


My Little Pony: The Portal 2

by RealAlex13Creations



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 23,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27361645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealAlex13Creations/pseuds/RealAlex13Creations
Summary: At Celestia's order, life in Equestria goes on. But after making new friends on Earth, it feels wrong just to pretend that they never met. Twilight is determined to find a way around this, but won't that mean disobeying her teacher's instructions?





	1. Twilight's Project

"Twilight? Where are you? It's almost time to leave. Twilight?" Spike called out.

Spike found Twilight in her library scrawling chalk on a chalkboard. She was clearly absorbed in her work, and didn't even hear when Spike came in. He walked over to her and tapped her, calling to her again.

"Twilight."

"Ahh! Spike, you startled me!" She exclaimed, stepping away from him and the chalkboard.

"Sorry. I've been calling you. It's time to leave."

"Right right, sorry. I've just been...uh, research." Twilight said, trying not to be specific.

Spike took a closer look at the work that Twilight was doing. The equations, the angles, and the diagrams all looked somewhat familiar. Twilight waited nervously for Spike to say something, feeling her heart beginning to beat faster and rise up in her chest.

"This looks familiar. Weren't you doing something like this when you were coming up with the spell for the portal?" Spike asked.

"Uhh yeah." Twilight admitted.

"What are you trying to do? Are you trying to fix it, make it better?" Spike guessed.

"Well, something like that... I'm trying to find a way to get back to Earth without allowing the extra stuff to go through like Princess Celestia was saying." Twilight explained.

"You want to try to bring Alex and his friend back again?" Spike quickly realized.

"Um, I mean, um... Yes, I do. Please don't tell the others yet. I-I don't want to get their hopes up. I'm nowhere near figuring this out yet." Twilight pleaded with him. Spike nodded.

"Okay. I won't say anything. But I hope you figure it out. It'd be cool to have them back." Spike said as they began to leave. Twilight flipped over the chalkboard so the blank side was facing outwards.

"Yeah, I think so too, Spike. After everything that happened... I know Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy especially were hit really hard by what happened, and only after these past few months have they really started to put it past them.

"I know Princess Celestia had her reasons, but if we can find a way to bring them back without going against all that, then what would be the harm? You know? They're our friends. I don't want to have to lose them forever." Twilight explained.

"I know, Twilight. You're the princess of friendship, after all. I would've been more surprised if you weren't trying to find a way." Spike said with a chuckle.

"Thanks, Spike," Twilight said with a smile. "How far behind schedule did I put us by getting distracted?"

"About 10 minutes."

"Oh! We need to get going then!" Twilight said quickly, starting to fly up.

"Wait, Twilight! What about me?!"

"Crash!"

Rainbow Dash's head rose up suddenly. She looked over at Spitfire, who was calling to her.

"Yes, captain?" She called back.

"Get your head out of the locker! We're on in 10!"

"Yes, captain! Sorry, captain." Rainbow Dash said, grabbing her flight goggles and closing her locker. Spitfire walked over to her.

"Is everything alright, Crash? You haven't been focusing as much lately. Something going on?" Spitfire asked, showing some genuine concern. Rainbow Dash sighed a bit, but shook her head.

"Everything's fine. I'm just dealing with some stuff." She answered.

"Need to talk about it with somepony?" Spitfire asked.

"Maybe. I don't know. Probably not."

"Alright. Well, for now, just focus on the routine, alright? We got your back." Spitfire said, patting her briefly before leaving again.

Rainbow Dash sighed, looking down for a moment. It was difficult to admit that she still thought sometimes about Alex, about his planet, and how things ended so...unsatisfying. The only ones who she could confide in about it already knew all about it, and she already talked to them about it.

Nevertheless, she had other things she needed to be thinking about right now. Pushing it into the back of her mind now, she strapped on her flying goggles and followed the other Wonderbolts out of the locker room.

Things would be fine anyways. Her friends were in the audience today to watch her fly, and they had a killer routine prepared. It was time for her to go out there and do what she did best: flying.

Meanwhile, as the Wonderbolts were preparing, Twilight was meeting up with the others at their seats. She hurriedly sat with them, between Fluttershy and Rarity.

"Hey! Hey, sorry I'm late, I was in the library." Twilight apologized sheepishly.

"Not to worry, darling. That alone explains everything." Rarity said, teasing her with a giggle and a nudge. Twilight smiled a bit.

"What've you been reading lately?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh you know, just researching stuff. You know, for personal magic projects?" Twilight said, choosing to keep her true intentions to herself for now.

"Of course, darling. You've been doing a lot of research lately." Rarity said.

"Yeah...?"

"It's good that you're taking some time to relax. We're glad you could make it." Rarity said.

"Yeah! Rainbow Dash was really excited for us to see this routine! She said it was the best Wonderbolt routine yet!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly.

"That is pretty exciting! I look forward to seeing it then." Twilight said with a smile.

Looking around, Twilight's eyes fell onto the V.I.P. box. Up there, she saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna talking. She watched them for a bit, and her thoughts went back to what Celestia had told her, and how her project was almost working around that.

Sooner or later, she would have to face her mentor for this, especially if she succeeded.

The thought of that almost made her want to change her mind. Yet, at the same time, she was convinced that this was the right thing to do. She had to trust that Celestia would understand why she was doing this in time.

"Oh look. Celestia and Luna are here too." Applejack pointed out to the others, following Twilight's line of sight. The others quickly took notice as well.

"Oh cool! I'm sure Rainbow Dash is gonna rock their socks off too!" Pinkie giggled.

"I don't think they're wearing socks, Pinkie." Applejack said.

"Well, they won't be after the show!" Pinkie replied.

The girls giggled at this. Twilight let her gaze rest on Celestia for a little bit. In her mind, she was thinking about what the conversation between them would be like...

What would she have to say if Alex came back?


	2. Evan's House Party

It had been awhile since Alex had been to a party.

As he entered into Evan's house, he brushed past the other guests there, some of which he knew, others he felt like he should know but didn't know them. He made his way towards the kitchen and living room area where he knew Evan would most likely be.

Sure enough, there he was pouring a drink and talking to one of their friends. Alex removed his jacket and set it down on a chair before going to Evan.

"Hey man! About time! Now it's a party." Evan said with a laugh as the two bro-hugged. Alex chuckled a bit.

"Thanks for inviting me. I'm glad I was finally able to make it to one of these. I lost count of how many I'd missed because of work." Alex said.

"Nah, it's alright man, consider us even." He said.

"Haha, alright," Alex said, pouring himself a soda. "So, how're you doing man?"

"I'm decent man, just working. Dealing with the little miscreants running around the house," Evan answered, referring to his younger siblings. "How about you? Haven't heard much from you lately."

"Yeah, I've just been busy. My hours have been going up and down, fluctuating lately. I've just been trying to keep myself busy in the lazier moments. I've started working out now."

"Ah alright man, I feel you, working on the biceps and triceps and forceps and the doorsteps." Evan said, flexing one of his arms in a joking manner.

"Yeah man, especially those doorsteps. I haven't worked on those enough lately." Alex said.

"Right." Evan said. The two were quiet for a bit before bursting into a giggling fit. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Ah man. It feels good to finally take a break."

"Yeah man, same. I told some of our friends you were coming, so you better hit that dance floor." Evan said, already knowing what Alex would say in response.

"Bruh, let me just finish this soda. There ain't gonna be no dance floor left when I'm done…because everyone will have left." Alex said. They laughed again.

"Sounds good."

Alex had a pretty good feel for how Evan's parties went. There would be dancing, followed by a chill period. There would be some singing, which is when Evan and some others would pressure him to sing, and he would cave, just like he always did.

Immediately after that, Evan's father would pull out the strobe light and turn up the volume for some rap music and Bruno Mars hits. Then there would be another relaxed period for everyone's eyes to adjust. Then there would be one more dance period before the night ended and the majority of guests started to leave.

As it turned out, tonight was no different.

Alex and Evan went to dance pretty soon after they'd had their drinks, trading off moves and trading off choosing songs to dance to. Alex tended to like to slide around more, while Evan was better at the more mechanical moves.

Then came the singing. Evan's siblings warmed up the crowd, then opened it up. Alex was pressured by Evan and some of his friends to take the mic. After some hesitation and deliberation, he finally settled on singing his favorite song by The Weeknd. He and Evan then did a duet of Sober by Childish Gambino.

The strobe light came on soon after. Most in the crown knew the words to most of the songs they played. They were jumping and dancing around like it was club right there in the living room. Alex had to take a break soon after, since it was starting to get hot in the house.

Later in the night, when it was starting to come around 11 pm, most of the guests were piling out. Alex and Evan had sat in chairs by the speakers. Evan was playing calmer music at a lower volume from the speakers while the two chatted.

"Maybe next weekend we can try and catch an afternoon showing?" Evan offered.

"Yeah, I've been wanting to see it, I've just been waiting to get my paycheck." Alex explained.

"We'll set it up then. I hear it's really good." Evan said.

"Awesome. So, how've you been man? You been alright?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I've been good. You know what I was thinking about the other day?" Evan asked.

"Nope."

"Haha. I was actually thinking about the pony girls. Remember?"

"Yeah of course. What about them?" Alex asked.

"Well you know, just wondering how they've been the past few months. I mean, we were on another _planet_ man. And we're the only ones that know about it." Evan said.

"Heheh, yeah, I know. I was thinking about that the other day. I haven't really considered it, you know, since there's really no way to find out." Alex admitted.

"Yeah, that's true. Still sucks. I kinda wanted to be part of that a cappella group. We should start our own." Evan suggested with a chuckle.

"Yeah man. I can be the lead singer, and you can be my agent." Alex joked.

"Oh yeah of course, that's what I used to be in the barber quartet."

"Back in the war?" Alex asked. They both chuckled.

"Oh yeah man. Back in…the infinity war." Evan said, spreading his hands out dramatically. Alex snorted.

"Right. Anyways, I've kinda missed them since we parted ways. Shame there's no signal over there."

"Or cell phones." Evan added.

"Or fingers to press the buttons." Alex continued.

"Or buttons."

"I'm sure they have buttons." Alex said.

"Yeah, but not on their phones." Evan pointed out.

"Yeah, because we established that they don't _have_ phones, idiot." Alex said with a chuckle.

"True. True. You think we'll ever get to see them again?" Evan asked. Alex shrugged.

"There isn't really to assume there's any reason that we would, but it would be cool to see them again… You know, just before they had to go, Rainbow Dash and I had started dating?" Alex said.

"I don't remember if you'd told me that. Rainbow Dash, really? Like with the rainbow hair, Rainbow Dash?" Evan asked to clarify.

"No, the Rainbow Dash with the gray hair. Yes, that Rainbow Dash." Alex answered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh shoot man. How was that going?" Evan asked curiously.

"Oh, it was good. We were good. She was actually pretty cool. Just as things were starting to take shape was when we got cut off. It didn't really get very far, but I had the feeling it would, you know?" Alex admitted.

"Yeah… Fluttershy and I were kind of in that same spot. She's super into animals, you saw that. We were mainly just hangin' out at her place and around Ponyville, but it was nice, you know? I'm a little mad about that, but it's okay I guess."

"Well, it kinda has to be." Alex said with a shrug.

"Yeah, true… Still though, I'm glad we got to meet them. They were some cool peeps. Except Applejack." Evan said, half-joking.

"Applejack was cool. You didn't like her?" Alex asked. Evan cringed in response.

"Ehh it was the accent. The accent was tough on me." Evan admitted.

"You're just racist." Alex said with a small chuckle.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure she's just racist." Evan said in response. Alex rolled his eyes.


	3. New Plan

Twilight stretched her wings out a bit as she took her morning drink into her library. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her quietly. Upon coming in, she found that Starlight was inside waiting for her, standing by her chalkboard.

The board had been flipped over so Twilight's notes had been exposed.

"Heyyy, Starlight! What're you… What're you doing here?" Twilight greeted her with an awkward smile as she sipped from her cup.

"Oh you know, I just came in here to read. I was looking at these equations here. They look very interesting…and familiar." Starlight said, glancing sideways at her.

"Y-Yeahhh…" Twilight said slowly.

"You're trying to get back to Earth, huh?" Starlight asked outright. Twilight sighed, seeing that she had been found out.

"Yes. I was trying to find a way to bring them back without bringing all of that extra stuff that Princess Celestia was talking about." Twilight came clean.

"You do realize that almost goes directly against what she told you, right?" Starlight pointed out.

"I do, but they are our friends. It's not fair to have to cut them out without good reason." Twilight said, defending her reasoning.

"I agree," Starlight said with a smile. "I was looking at these equations here. They're pretty close, but it looks like you're stuck on something?" Starlight asked.

"Yes. The portal seemed like the easiest way to make it work, but now that's not an option. I have to figure out a way to teleport them without teleporting all of the other harmful stuff." Twilight explained her predicament.

"I see… What if you encase them in the transportation magic?" Starlight suggested.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Well, you know how I use levitation magic to make myself fly without using wings? Why don't we do the same thing, but with the teleportation spell?" Starlight explained her idea.

"Hmm… Instead of opening a portal, encase the portal around them. It'll be enclosed and still accomplish its goal. That's a great idea, Starlight! That could work!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly.

"Hey, that's why we're a team," Starlight smiled. "Should I tell the others that we're going back to Earth?" She asked.

"No. Not yet. I want to make sure that this works first. If it does, then we can tell them and go back right away." Twilight decided.

"Sounds good. Where do we start?" Starlight asked.

"You know, I heard that you and Rainbow Dash had a bit of a disagreement about something between Alex? What happened there?" Starlight asked curiously. Twilight blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"Yeah, um, well I was thanking him for the stuff he did to help out our friends, and I…kinda…kissed him on the cheek."

"Oh, okay. I didn't know you liked him." Starlight said with a chuckle.

"Well, see, that was the issue. I don't like him, at least not like that. It was just a simple thank you. That's normal, right?" Twilight asked.

"I never got a kiss on the cheek for my help. Please, don't give me one." Starlight clarified.

"Heheh, yeah, fair enough. My timing was really bad too, because Rainbow Dash and Alex had just started dating apparently." Twilight went on.

"Woah, Rainbow Dash and Alex, really? I didn't know Rainbow Dash liked him like that." Starlight said.

"Yeah, it was very new. I'm not sure everypony even knew about it yet. Anyways, she and Fluttershy are gonna be the first two that I tell when we get this figured out." Twilight said hopefully.

"I'm sure they'll be excited. They'll all be. I'm excited." Starlight said with a smile.

"Yeah. Me too. I really hope this works." Twilight said again.

"I'm sure Pinkie Pie will be happy to hear she can throw that party for them after all." Starlight said with a giggle.

"Haha, I'd be surprised if she won't already have a plan whipped up for them when they get here." Twilight said with a smile.

The two of them stepped back from their new plan. All of the equations were completed, and they even had time to draw out diagrams of how the spell should look if performed correctly. They both nodded.

"I think we got it." Starlight said.

"I think so too." Twilight nodded.

"What are we waiting for? Let's try it out." Starlight grinned.

It was late in the evening when Twilight and Starlight arrived on Earth. Starlight had helped Twilight develop a simple outfit for herself: jeans and a sweater. Starlight had on something similar: a tank top and jacket, and a beanie hat.

"When'd you learn so much about Earth fashion?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Oh you know, just from observing when we were here." Starlight chuckled awkwardly.

The two of them crossed the street, walking towards Alex's apartment. The two of them looked around at the familiar surroundings.

"It's almost impossible to believe that we're back here again." Twilight admitted.

"Isn't it? But hey, our spell worked." Starlight said proudly.

"Yes it did. I guess we can tell Alex so he knows we're back. I'm sure he'll be ecstatic too." Twilight grinned.

"You sure we shouldn't wait until we bring everypony over to see him?" Starlight asked. Twilight shook her head.

"I get the feeling that he's not a big fan of surprises. Besides, what if we brought everypony and he wasn't there? At least he'll know." Twilight pointed out.

"Yeah, fair enough." Starlight nodded, brushing her hair back.

The two reached the parking lot. Their anticipation built up with every step they took towards his door. Twilight reached her hand out and knocked on the door several times. They waited nervously for him to answer…

"Heyyy, I remember you two. You were Alex's homegirls a few months ago, right?" A somewhat familiar face said as he walked past the two of them with groceries in his arms.

"We've met before, haven't we?" Twilight asked a bit absently. She could see that she'd seen his face before, but she couldn't remember his name.

"Yeah. Jamal? You're the-the…Twilight chick, right? Both of ya'll had 'light' in your names." Jamal said, snapping his fingers as he tried to remember their names.

"Yes. Twilight, and this is Starlight." Twilight reintroduced them just to be sure.

"We're here to see Alex. Is he here?" Starlight asked. Jamal shook his head.

"Nah. He just left for his overnight shift. I tell you, if there's one thing that boy knows how to do, it's work. You just missed him." Jamal informed them.

"Ahhh." Twilight groaned.

"I guess we'll come back tomorrow." Starlight said.

"You know, you two are welcome to wait with me 'til he comes back." Jamal offered in a suggestive manner.

"Didn't you say it was an overnight shift?" Starlight pointed out. Jamal leaned against his door.

"I did." He said, clicking his tongue.

"Yeah, that's alright. We'll come back." Twilight said, the both of them turning and walking away.

"Man, I don't know how he does it." Jamal said before going into his apartment.


	4. Reunion

"I can't believe we're back here! Eeh, this is so exciting!" Pinkie squealed in excitement, bouncing ahead of the group.

"I'm sure Alex will be thrilled by this surprise!" Applejack said with a smile.

"Yeah…" Rainbow Dash agreed softly, her heart beating hard in her chest as they drew closer and closer.

"It's okay, darling. He'll be happy to see you," Rarity comforted her, placing a hand on her arm. "He'll be happy to see all of us." She said reassuringly.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." Rainbow Dash agreed, still anxious to see her former boyfriend after all this time.

They all reached the door. Before Twilight could even knock on the door, they could already hear loud rock music playing from inside. Taking note of this, Twilight knocked on the door louder than normal. They heard the music quiet down.

All of them waited anxiously for the door to open, shuffling a bit as they waited. Seconds felt stretched out, as though it was taking minutes for Alex to answer the door.

Finally, the door opened up. Alex stood on the other side wearing a black sleeveless exercise shirt. Upon seeing who was at his door, his eyes widened. He froze for a bit, unsure how to react. He pulled out his phone, and paused his music.

"H-Hey… You're…"

"We're back!" Pinkie exclaimed, being the first to jump up and hug him tightly. Alex hugged back with one arm, still in shock.

"You are. Heheh, uh, come in." He stepped aside, letting them in.

The seven of them all piled in one by one. Rainbow Dash was the last to come in. As she passed by Alex, the two of them held eye contact for what felt like the longest time before she entered fully. Alex shut the door behind them, joining the girls, who'd all gotten comfortable already.

"I-I can't believe you're back. Is this for real?" He asked.

"It's real." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"But I thought… I thought that your princess or whatever said that you had to close the portal for good." Alex recalled. Twilight nodded.

"She did, but Starlight and I found another way, a safer way, to come here. So, technically, we're not breaking any rules." Twilight explained.

"No way… That's… That's great." Alex said with a half smile.

"How have you been, Alex?" Fluttershy asked.

"Um, I've been good. I've been good. You know, just-just working. I've been tryna work out more as you can see by workout equipment there. Nothing really all that new. How about you?" He asked them.

"We've been good." Applejack nodded.

"We have a lot to catch up on." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yes we do, and we will. Unfortunately, we can't all stay very long." Twilight admitted.

"That's okay, we'll have time, we'll have time. This was a little unexpected anyway." Alex said.

"I gotta get back to the farm. Now that we're back, I'll have to have ya as a guest sometime." Applejack offered.

"That sounds nice." Alex nodded.

"I have duties to attend to today, but I promise to bring you back to Ponyville soon, and we can go to more places." Twilight said, standing up as well.

"I look forward to that too." Alex said.

"I'd like to stay here if that's okay. I'd like to see Evan again." Fluttershy spoke up.

"I'll call him shortly."

"I'll stay too." Starlight said.

"Sure."

"I'll stay next time." Rarity smiled.

"Okay," Alex nodded, turning to Rainbow Dash. "What about you? Would you like to stay?"

"Um, I don't know… I can." She said softly.

"I mean, if you don't want to, you don't have to. It's just an offer." Alex backtracked.

"You should stay, Rainbow Dash! It'll be great!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping over to her.

"Um…"

"I said _you should stay, Rainbow Dash."_ Pinkie Pie repeated in a much lower tone, holding onto her face as she spoke. Rainbow Dash stepped back.

"Okay! Okay." She nodded. She looked at Alex, who was eyeing her with a raised eyebrow. He looked like he wanted to say something but wasn't, and that was actually intimidating for her.

"Well, we'll get out of here before it gets awkward," Rarity said with an awkward chuckle. "We look forward to seeing you again, Alex." She said, hugging him warmly. Alex hugged back.

"Thanks. It's good to see you all again as well." He said to them, giving the ones leaving quick hugs on their way out and leaving him with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Starlight.

"Hey, Alex. Rainbow Dash wants to talk to you privately." Fluttershy said suddenly, nudging Rainbow Dash, who flinched.

"Do you really?" Alex asked doubtfully.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah I do…" Rainbow Dash said, glaring at Fluttershy.

"Let's talk in my room then. After you." Alex said, gesturing for her to go first. He followed behind her, closing the bedroom door behind them once they entered.

"It's…um, been awhile." Rainbow Dash started slowly, turning around to face him.

"You know, if you didn't want to stay, you could've just gone. I can take a hint." Alex said, folding his arms.

"Alex, I'm sorry. Listen, I'm just really…really nervous." She admitted.

"Nervous about what?" Alex asked.

"This conversation. I-I don't know what to say. I don't know how you feel. I don't know what's changed." Rainbow Dash explained her thinking. Alex nodded in understanding.

"I gotcha. Listen, you can talk to me. I'm all ears. I wanna know what you have to say. I offered you to stay. That wasn't out of courtesy. I want you here." He said.

"You do?" She asked with some surprise.

"Of course I do. I've missed you." Alex said, stepping closer to her. Rainbow Dash stepped past her.

"You didn't seem to think about that when you blew me off when we said goodbye." Rainbow Dash said a bit bitterly.

"I didn't blow you off, Rainbow Dash. I just…held back."

"Why did you hold back? That was the last time we were gonna see each other. Pretty bad time to 'hold back' on me man." She continued.

"Yes, you're right, and I regret that. I just, I was hit really hard when I learned we were never gonna see each other again, and I just… It was gonna be the last time, and I had no hope, so I just…denied myself." Alex said, unable to fully explain his choice.

"You didn't just deny yourself, Alex. You denied me too, and that really hurt." Rainbow Dash lamented.

"You're right, that was stupid, and I'm sorry. I've been wishing I could take it back these past few months." Alex said, stepping towards her again. Rainbow Dash sighed.

"…it's okay. I forgive you. At least now we can talk again and-"

Rainbow Dash was interrupted by Alex suddenly stepping in and kissing her, placing a hand on her cheek. Rainbow Dash flinched in surprise, eyes wide open and she felt her lips pressed against his.

She mimicked him, closing her eyes and kissing him in return. Alex pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her firmly. Rainbow Dash hugged him tightly, her arms around his neck. He pulled away, and she sighed, still unsure what to do.

"Are we good?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah, we're good." She nodded, blushing deeply.

"Great. We have a lot of catching up to do." Alex said with a smile.


	5. Starlight

"So, I take it your conversation with Rainbow Dash went well. She came out looking happier than I've seen her these past few months." Starlight said to Alex with a chuckle as the two played a racing game.

The others had gone to bed early in Alex's room, leaving just Alex and Starlight to play video games and chat. Starlight, for her part, wasn't really all that tired, and wanted to use the opportunity to better get to know Alex, the one for whom they'd gone through all this trouble.

"Heheh, yeah, we worked things out, which is good. I'm happy about that." Alex said as he drifted into a turn in-game.

"I'm happy about that too. You know, I don't believe we know each other very well." Starlight pointed out to him.

"I don't believe we do. To be fair, I only know a little bit about all of you, but I'm glad that we have the opportunity to fix that. So, Starlight, right?"

"Starlight Glimmer, yep. That's my name." She nodded.

"Reminds me of Twilight Sparkle. Similar theme there." Alex said with a chuckle.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing, just observing. So, Starlight Glimmer, what're you into?" He asked.

"Oh, well, I like kites."

"Kites?"

"Yeah, flying kites." She nodded, using the game as a way to play off her hobby. She felt a little embarrassed by how Alex had said it.

"Oh okay. I've never been all that good with kites. I haven't flown one since I was a kid. Maybe we can fly kites one day, you can teach me the ins and outs of the art of kite flying." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Why do I feel so convinced of your excitement?" Starlight asked sarcastically with a giggle.

"Well hey, it'll be fun, it'll be chill, it'll be cool." Alex said.

"Pfft, wow," She smiled. "What about you? What do you like to do?"

"Uh, well, when I'm not working, I play video games, I like going to the movies. I'm also a dancer." Alex described.

"Those are all fun. I hear you're a bit of a singer too." She said.

"My reputation seems to precede me there. Did Fluttershy or Rarity tell you? They were the ones that were putting emphasis on it." Alex asked.

"Yeah, they told me. Rainbow Dash mentioned it a little too. Apparently you and your friend Evan had just joined the Pony Tones last time you were in Equestria?"

"Something like that, yeah. I don't consider myself a great singer. I mean, I'm alright, but others seem to exaggerate a little." Alex said with a chuckle. Starlight smiled a bit.

"I get the feeling that you're just being modest. Rarity wouldn't ask anypony to join the group." Starlight pointed out to him.

"Eh, I don't know. Maybe."

"I'll have to hear you sing sometime." She said with a chuckle.

"Well, spend enough time with me, you just might. I tend to get pressured into it at some point or another." Alex said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I was actually just at a party a few days ago. They got me up there to sing a song called I Feel It Coming; it's one of my favorites." Alex said.

"I Feel It Coming?" Starlight repeated.

"Yeah."

"What exactly are you feeling coming?" Starlight asked.

"The finish line." Alex answered.

"What?"

Starlight realized what Alex meant when he passed the finish line in first place, with Starlight slipping back into third place. She groaned a bit, and Alex pumped his fist in celebration of his victory.

"You're good at this game." Starlight said.

"Well you know, it's just practice is all. I'd say with enough practice you could beat me, but I don't like to lie." Alex teased her. She raised her eyebrow at him and smiled.

"I accept your challenge." She chuckled, starting them on another race.

"So, what's your story, Starlight? How'd you get mixed in with Rainbow Dash and her friends?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how'd you meet them? From my understanding, those girls have known each other for years, but you haven't been around them as long. How'd you join the friendship club?" Alex asked.

"Oh! Well, um…to be honest with you, I was actually kind of… I used to have an issue with cutie marks, and so I kind of enslaved a small town."

"Alright." Alex nodded, his tone telling her to continue.

"Yeah, so then, when Twilight and the others messed that up, I tried to get revenge by going back in time and trying to make it so they never met." Starlight explained, bracing herself for Alex's response.

"That's some grade A villainy stuff right there." Alex commented.

"Yeah…"

"Cool." Alex chuckled.

"What?"

"I mean, you're good now, so that's good, but I don't know, that kind of sounds cool. Like something out of a movie or a comic book. I like superheroes and villains, and villains are cool to me."

"I see." Starlight nodded, feeling relieved that at least he wasn't judging her.

"Part of me always wanted to be a villain." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Trust me, you don't." Starlight said with a breathy chuckle.

"Yeah, maybe not, but I think I'd be good at it. I got a deep voice, I could develop an evil laugh. 'You've met your match, Twilight Sparkle. Equestria will be mine!'" Alex said in an overdramatic voice, speaking in a deep tone. Starlight rolled her eyes.

"That's a little much."

"And then I'd have a super awesome villain theme. Something with a kick, like a hard rock song with rapping in it." Alex described with a chuckle.

"Sounds hardcore." Starlight giggled.

"And there'd be stringed instruments in there too, like an orchestra, but an _evil_ orchestra." Alex continued. Starlight laughed a bit.

"Stop talking, Alex."

"Haha, you don't like my villain persona?"

"No no, it's great, evil orchestra and all." Starlight chuckled.

"Fine. So, after your villain phase, the girls took you in and made you a bestie?"

"You could say that, yeah, and it's stayed that way since then. I'm glad they took me in." Starlight said with an honest tone and sincere smile.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear that. We'll have to hang then. Get to that kite flying."

"Yes we will." Starlight said with a smile.

"Evil kite flying."

"Yes." Starlight chuckled again.


	6. Catching Up

"Fluttershy!" Evan exclaimed happily, scooping up Fluttershy in a tight hug. Fluttershy hugged him back joyously and kissed him. Alex smiled at seeing them happily reunited.

"I've missed you so much." Fluttershy said, getting teary-eyed as she held him.

"I've missed you too. Like god, when did you get back?" He asked.

"Yesterday," Alex answered, standing up. "She spent the night here just to wait for you to show up. Took you long enough." He teased his friend.

"Sorry. I didn't get your message until after work, and it was almost midnight by then." Evan explained. Alex smiled and shook his head.

"I'm just teasing you man, I know all that. We're heading back to Ponyville this afternoon. You coming?" He offered.

"You better believe it."

Alex and Evan stepped out of the Tree of Harmony, looking out upon Ponyville once again. Everything looked roughly the same. It was odd to see it again. It was odd to be ponies again. Alex looked over at Evan and chuckled a bit.

"Been awhile, huh?"

"Yeah man. Is it me, or does the castle feel bigger than how I remembered it?" Evan asked.

"It's probably just you… It is big though."

"I don't even know where to begin! Where should we go?" Rainbow Dash asked, wrapping an arm around Alex. He chuckled a bit and hummed.

"I don't know. For now, I'll settle with visiting Pinkie Pie and Rarity and Fluttershy and Applejack again. You know, say hello again." Alex said.

"That sounds good." Twilight said with a smile.

They headed over to the Sugarcube Corner first to see Pinkie Pie, and caught up on little things along the way.

"So, what's new? What's been going on in the land of magic and friendship and rainbows lately?" Alex asked with a humorous chuckle.

"Well, let's see… We saved the world again." Rainbow Dash answered with a grin.

"Really? What from?" Evan asked.

"An ancient evil called the Pony of Shadows." Starlight said.

"Haha! The Pony of Shadows. Sounds like something out of one of your role-playing games." Alex said, nudging Evan. He chuckled.

"Oh yeah. 'The Pony of Shadows, consumer of all that is good. He is an ancient evil formed in the heart of the volcano Vesuvius. He is master of darkness, ruthless and cunning.'" Evan said in a deep tone, speaking with an accent dramatically.

"Well, I don't know about any volcano, but the Pony of Shadows was very dangerous. It took all of us, and the Pillars of Equestria, to stop it and save the pony it had trapped." Fluttershy explained.

"Pillars of Equestria?" Alex repeated.

"They were the protectors of Equestria before us. They're the ones that created the seed that became the Tree of Harmony." Twilight explained.

"Ohh okay." Alex said sarcastically, as if that explained everything.

"This whole world is just like one big LARP session." Evan commented with a chuckle as they entered the Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie was working.

Upon entering, Pinkie immediately caught sight of them. Without hesitation, she left her post at the counter and sped over to them, hugging Alex and Evan tightly with a wide grin.

"You guys are back! I'm so happy to see you both!" She giggled and bounced a bit.

"It's good to see you too, Pinkie. Keeping the mane up I see. It looks good." Alex complimented.

"Thanks! This is actually how it looks natural, but I was thinking about doing swirls, you know?" Pinkie said with a chuckle as she tugged her mane down in a circle over her eyes.

"Swirls are cool." Evan commented.

"Hey, uh, Pinkie, it looks like you might have a customer that you might be neglecting over there." Starlight pointed to the counter with a giggle. There stood a mare with blue and pink hair waiting.

"Woops! Sorry! BRB BNF's!" She said before rushing back and taking care of her order.

"What?" Fluttershy asked.

"Be Right Back, Best…New Friends." Evan translated.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Alex agreed.

"Oh, Pinkie." Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Looks like you've got a little reunion going on over here," The mare chuckled as she walked to them with her order of cupcakes. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Bon Bon." She introduced herself, shaking hooves with Alex and Evan.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alex, this is my friend Evan."

"Nice to meet you both. Alex and Evan, huh? Interesting names. Are they, like, foreign?" Bon Bon asked curiously. He chuckled a bit.

"Something like that. We're heading around visiting our friends right now, but maybe we'll see you around?" Alex said with a smile. She smiled and nodded.

"You just might." She chuckled a bit before exiting.

"You just got back man, hold your horses a little." Evan teased him after she had left.

"Sorry." Alex said, putting his hooves on RD's back. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"What're you doing?"

"Holding my horse." Alex chuckled.

"I must say, Alex, Evan, I'm very excited to see you both back here. I hope that, with this new arrangement, we can resume our former plans of that Pony Tones show?" Rarity said hopefully, talking to them as she sewed clothes.

"Never forgot about, did you?" Alex chuckled, observing her work closely as Evan wandered around and looked at the outfits on the mannequins.

"Of course not, darling, I was very much looking forward, and I think you were too? What do you say? We'd still be very happy to have you both." Rarity said, turning away from her station and smiling at him.

"Eh, I guess I don't see why not. I had a feeling you were going to ask." Alex chuckled.

"I still got sick beats to lay down if you need them." Evan said with a chuckle.

"Oh yes, we'll be happy to have the inclusion of your 'sick beats', Evan." Rarity said with a giggle.

"Ayyy." Evan said with a grin.

"Count us back in, Rarity. Just let me know when the next Pony Tones meeting is, and I'll do my best to make sure we're both there." Alex said with a nod.

"Wonderful! I'll have your outfits ready in about two weeks or so, should everything remain on schedule." Rarity promised.

"Wow. I don't think I ever got to see what your cottage looks like, Fluttershy. It's cozy. Quiet. I don't think I could live here, but it's certainly a nice little retreat." Alex gave his opinion as he wandered around her living room. Fluttershy laughed a bit.

"That's almost exactly what Evan said when he came here." She said.

"Hey, little man. What's up?" Alex said to Angel Bunny as he hopped up. Angel Bunny looked up at him curiously.

"That's Angel Bunny, the one I told you about. Remember?"

"Ahh, so you're the famous Angel Bunny. Fluttershy's told me a lot about you. You like carrots?" He asked. Angel Bunny nodded.

"Yeah, same. High five, or whatever this is called." Alex said, offering his hoof up. Angel Bunny hopped up and hit his paw against it.

"Ayyy, that's training right there man." Evan said with a chuckle, putting an arm around Fluttershy.

"Well well well, city colt, about time you two came back around. It's good to see ya." Applejack said happily, hugging Alex and Evan.

"It's good to see you too, Applejack. You got a lot of trees. Are there more now than there were then?" Alex asked, looking around from the barn.

"I don't know. You tell me." She said teasingly with a chuckle.

"Man, are these apples fresh?" Evan asked.

"Always. That's kind of our thing 'round here." Applejack answered with another chuckle.

"Hey, you're back!" Apple Bloom said, rushing over to them. She and Alex hoof-bumped.

"Hey hey, Apple Bloom. I remember you. We went to pick out a bow. How's it holding up for you?" He asked. She smiled.

"It's great! I usually wear it to school." She answered.

"Nice, nice. This is my friend, Evan. Evan, this is Apple Bloom, one of the coolest farm girls I know." He introduced them. Apple Bloom grinned as she shook hooves with Evan.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

"Same, Apple Bloom." Evan nodded and chuckled.

"We'll be coming in to visit and hang out from time to time." Alex said to Applejack.

"Well, feel free to drop by. We'll be sure to treat you like a member of the Apple family while you're here. Next time, I'll fix ya up some apple cider." Applejack promised.

"Looking forward to it." Alex nodded happily.


	7. Plans

"Hey you two! I don't know if I said this before, but you two make such a cute couple!" Pinkie Pie said with a giggle as Evan and Fluttershy came up to the counter in the Sugarcube Corner.

"Thank you, Pinkie," Fluttershy said with a giggle and a blush. "You don't have to say it that loud though."

"Oh, sorry. You two make _such_ a cute couple." Pinkie whispered to them.

"Thanks, Pinkie. So, could we get some smoothies?" Evan asked.

"Sure! How do you like them? Apple smoothie? Banana smoothie? Mixed with different fruits? Balloons or streamers? With electronic dance music? Or maybe like a candy flavor?" Pinkie Pie asked, emphasizing the second to last question.

"Uhh, I'll take different fruits. You can put the electronic dance music on the side." Evan said with a nod.

"I'll take the banana." Fluttershy said with a nod.

"Here you go!" Pinkie Pie set their smoothies on the counter for them. They both flinched in surprise.

"You already made them? We just ordered them." Evan said.

"I'm the best there is at what I do, bub." Pinkie Pie said with a giggle as she slid their drinks over to them. Evan took his with a chuckle.

"Alright. Well, see you later then." He said as they turned and left. Pinkie Pie rubbed her hooves together.

"Electronic dance music. Check."

"Hey! I was wondering where you went." Pinkie said as she approached Alex and Starlight. They had gone just outside of Ponyville to fly kites.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie. What's up?" Alex greeted them as she sat with them.

"Oh nothing, just going around asking my friends personal questions. I mean, for no reason at all that is, silly filly." Pinkie said, patting his back.

"Uh okay. I'm not a big fan of personal questions." Alex said.

"Noted! So, what kind of music do you like? I was just looking at your cutie mark there."

"All kinds, I guess. I just listen to whatever sounds good." Alex answered with a shrug.

"I don't know. I guess maybe a song with a meaning is good for me. I used to like-"

"Would you consider yourself a dancing pony? Like on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being, 'Ooh I love to dance ALL the time!' and 1 being, 'Ugh, dancing, I hate dancing, it's the worst! Egh!'" Pinkie Pie asked Alex, cutting off Starlight's answer.

"I don't know. I like dancing. I don't necessarily consider myself a _great_ dancer but others might say something different. So, maybe like an 8?" Alex decided.

"Like an 8? I can dig that. Cupcakes or cake?" She asked.

"Both are fine, I guess. Depends on the flavor. I'm a vanilla cake and vanilla frosting kinda guy," Alex described. "What are all these questions for?" He asked.

"What about ice cream? Is it vanilla for you too?" Pinkie asked, leaning closer to him.

"I don't know. I mean, vanilla and mint ice cream. One or the other. You still haven't-"

"So if you had to choose between cake or cupcakes or ice cream, which would be terrible because they're all so so very good, which would you choose?" Pinkie Pie asked. Alex shook his head a bit.

"Uhh, cupcakes." He decided.

"Got it! Thanks for your time!" Pinkie said, shaking his hoof before rushing off quickly.

"What was that about?" Alex asked, looking at Starlight. Starlight shrugged.

"Knowing Pinkie, she's probably planning a surprise party." She answered.

"A surprise party? Okay." He nodded with a shrug.

"So, you were saying?" Starlight asked. Alex paused.

"Uh… What was I talking about?"

"You were talking about the last time you used a kite?" Starlight reminded him.

"Oh yeah, right! So I had it all the way up, string was completely unfurled. I'm talking it was in the clouds man, it was crazy. Well, as I was furling it to bring it back down, I lost my grip on the handle, and it shot away so fast I didn't get to see where it went, and I never saw it again."

"Ah yep. See, that's a classic case of not watching out for with wind speeds increasing exponentially with how high your kite is." Starlight said with a nod.

"What're you, some kind of kite-flying guru?" He asked with a chuckle.

"I mean, I could be. Maybe I could coach." She joked.

"Oh yeah, there you go." Alex said with a nod and a chuckle. There was some silence between them for a little bit.

"So, can I ask a bit of a personal question, Alex?" Starlight asked.

"Great, more personal questions." Alex said with a chuckle. Starlight laughed a little bit.

"No, don't worry, I only have one. I just, you know, we were talking the other day and I was telling you a bit about myself, I figured this would be a good time for me to ask a little about you, you know." Starlight explained her reasoning.

"Yeah, that's fair. Uh, what do you wanna know I guess is the real question?" Alex asked. Starlight hummed.

"I don't know really. Just tell me a bit about where you're from. Like, getting to the point that you are now." Starlight suggested. Alex nodded.

"Okay. Well, uh…never really been asked this before." He said with a chuckle as he tried to come up with an answer to give her that would be sufficient.

"It's alright, take your time." Starlight encouraged with a smile.

"Okay. Well, I grew up in a small town, moved around a couple times, I lived with my Mom and little brother for awhile, then when I got up into my 20's, I moved out and into the apartment I'm currently living in. I don't see them too often, but I call them every week or two." Alex briefly summarized.

"What about your Dad? He wasn't with you guys?" Starlight asked.

"He was for awhile. He was military, so he often went on tour. Eventually, our parents split, which is why I grew up mainly with my Mom." Alex explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Starlight said.

"Eh, it's alright. It happens a lot where I'm from. Anyways, most of the stuff that I enjoy I had to find for myself, and I just kinda drifted my way to being self-sufficient, if that makes any sense." Alex described.

"I think I understand," Starlight nodded. "You seem to be a little lonely, if you don't mind me saying." Starlight observed. Alex shrugged.

"I mean, I don't know. It's alright. I got Rainbow Dash now and you guys. I have friends back on Earth of course. We just all work a lot, so it's hard to line schedules up." Alex explained.

"I gotcha. So, what do you plan to do now that you can come here?" Starlight asked curiously.

"I don't know really. I guess just hang out. I know Rarity's all excited about the Pony Tones thing. I guess I'll just do some more drifting and see where I end up." Alex said with a nod.

"Alright." Starlight nodded as well, looking back up at her kite.


	8. Surprise Party

"Dude, that was awesome!" Evan said to Alex as they left Rarity's boutique.

They had just concluded a practice meeting with the other Pony Tones members. Picking up right where they had left off, they began to develop a set based on the songs Alex had previously given them. Now it was later in the day, and the meeting had been disbanded until next week.

"Yeah man, this is super cool. I get the feeling we're gonna have a lit show when it's all said and done finally." Alex said with a smile.

"Wait for us, you two!" Rarity called ahead. They looked back and saw Rarity and Fluttershy were hurrying to catch up with them.

"Hey, what's going on?" Alex asked.

"We're gonna drop by the Sugarcube Corner for some ice cream. We wanted you to come." Fluttershy invited them.

"Sure, sounds good." Evan said, inching closer to her with a smile.

"I don't see why not. I'm only gonna get a little bit though, just letting you know." Alex said.

"That's alright, darling, we're happy to have your company." She said with a smile as the four of them made their way through Ponyville.

"I'm very excited about this new Pony Tones routine that we're making. I think the songs are going to do well." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, nice choices, man." Evan complimented him.

"Thanks. I was just trying to find stuff that could work with that a cappella feel, you know? I'm glad that it's all coming together." Alex said.

"Indeed it is, and it'll be quite spectacular when it's all finished. I think I speak for all of us in saying that we look forward to having you both perform with us." Rarity said with a grin.

"Well, thanks for having us." Alex nodded.

The four of them now approached the Sugarcube Corner. The lights were dim through the windows, which didn't strike Alex or Evan as odd since they had never seen it at night before. Alex also noticed that there were few ponies out tonight.

"It looks like it's about to close." Evan observed as they approached the door.

"Business is always slow come around this time." Rarity said. Alex opened up the door and let them in. Alex and Evan were the last to enter.

" **SURPRISE!"**

Inside the Sugarcube, a large amount of ponies, including Rainbow Dash and the others, were all gathered. They all cheered as the two entered. Hung above them was a sign that said: "WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!"

"Ohh, surprise party. Haa." Alex said with a chuckle after his initial shock faded away.

"Aww man, you got me good, I wasn't expecting that at all." Evan said.

"Yes!" Pinkie Pie grinned, hopping over to them. "I've been planning this as soon as I heard you were coming back! We got cupcakes and ice cream, apple cider, and DJ PON3 doing the music! Enjoy! Let's party! Weeee!" Pinkie grinned and hopped away.

"Haha, let's party then." Evan said to Alex with a chuckle.

Alex and Evan were very quickly swept into a rush of meeting with ponies. It was a whirlwind of greetings and hugs and questions. They found themselves in a meet and greet with pretty much all of Ponyville, being hit with a flurry of new names and faces.

"It's good to see you again, Alex. Where've you been these past few months?" Octavia asked, sipping her apple cider.

"Oh you know, I've been busy back at home. With new arrangements in order, I hope to be coming around more often." Alex said in reply.

"That's nice to hear. Vinyl had been keeping an eye out for you on her walks; she was curious too. You should go say hi to her sometime between her sets."

"I will. And I'll be seeing you too. I'd like to hear you play that cello at some point." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Looking forward to it." Octavia replied with a chuckle before the two dispersed.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was introducing Evan to some of her friends.

"Evan, this is my friend, Tree Hugger. We met on a butterfly migration. She's a big fan of nature too." Fluttershy introduced the two of them.

"Nice to meet you, Tree Hugger. That is an awesome name, and I like that hairdo you got going on." Evan complimented her as the two shook hooves.

"Nice to meet you too, man. Your mane's cool too. Very natural." She said in a laid-back manner with a chuckle. Evan found this amusing.

"How did you manage to get the whole town here on such short notice, Pinkie?" Alex asked as they sat at a table with Rainbow Dash and Twilight.

"Nopony throws a party like Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

"Most of the time, the town responds very quickly when word catches that Pinkie's throwing a party, especially when it involves new faces." Twilight explained in more detail.

"Man, that's awesome that the whole town is so close knit like that. I think I've basically met the whole town at this point. There's so many ponies here!" Alex said, looking around with an almost overwhelmed chuckle.

"Well, we wanted you to feel welcome! I bet you're feeling pretty welcome right now, right?" Pinkie asked, slowly leaning into Alex with a sly expression. He smiled.

"I am, and Evan looks the same."

"Yay!" Pinkie grinned and clapped her hooves.

Later on in the night, DJ PON3, or Vinyl, began to turn the music up, freestyling with much more energetic music to allow those at the party to dance. Alex and Evan, as they usually are, were some of the first to get out there.

Being more used to their own styles of dancing, they found a way to accommodate their own styles of dancing into their new pony bodies, and before long, they had already attracted attention and were being cheered on by ponies on the side.

"This might be one of your most successful parties yet, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said, patting her on the back. "They look like they're having an awesome time and now almost all of Ponyville as gotten to meet them."

"I know, I'm pretty good." Pinkie giggled happily.

"I'm sure they'll gladly come around to visit more often now that they know that they're welcome to do so. Also, look at those moves! Maybe I should learn how to dance like that." Twilight chuckled.

"Maybe you should learn how to dance first, Twilight." Rainbow Dash said teasingly.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes.

Pinkie giggled and hopped into the dance area, joining them in dancing. The party livened up even more with cheering and laughter, and now more ponies began to gather onto the floor.

"Bro, this is the best party I've ever been to!" Evan said to Alex.

"Yeah, I think I'll say the same!" Alex agreed with a chuckle.

"We need to come here more often." Evan laughed.


	9. Crystal Empire

"Where are we going, Twilight?" Alex asked, looking out the window of the train.

"We're going to the Crystal Empire! It's not far from Equestria. It's actually ruled over by my sister-in-law and my brother: Princess Cadence and Shining Armor." Twilight said.

"I didn't know your brother was a princess." Alex said with a hum.

"Uh…he's not…"

"I'm just kidding. Come on now, Twilight." Alex said with a laugh. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"You got me. I've just got some things on my mind; we're supposed to have a very important conversation about relations between our two lands, and I'm a little nervous." She admitted.

"You'll be fine, Twilight. You already said it's your family in charge, and you two have known each other forever. It'll go fine." Spike reassured her.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Spike." Twilight smiled at him.

"You should be more worried about me. I'mma be meeting your royal extended family." Alex said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, you'll be fine. They're really nice. They'll like you for sure. Just be careful with Flurry Heart, the baby and my niece! She's absolutely adorable, but her magic is very strong." Twilight informed him.

"Yeah, she almost destroyed the place once." Spike said.

"Oh shoot… Well, hopefully we're coming around naptime." Alex joked.

"Haha, it'll be alright." Twilight said as the train stopped and the three of them got off.

"Hey, you know I saved this place once?" Spike asked.

"No way, did you?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah." Spike chuckled proudly.

"Just be glad you only have to hear this story once, Alex." Twilight sighed and giggled humorously.

"Oh wow…" Alex paused. His eyes widened as he took in the Crystal Empire for the first time.

True to its name, the whole place was made of crystal. The roads were crystal, the homes and buildings were crystal, and even the ponies were glowing like crystals. Alex made eye contact with one crystal pony mare as she passed by. She waved as she went on her way.

"What do you think?" Twilight asked.

"Could I, like, grab a piece of one of these buildings and take it home as a souvenir?"

"Haha, I don't think they'd appreciate that." Twilight giggled.

"Wait, no, I'm serious, Twi!"

"Twilight! How's my favorite sister-in-law doing?" Princess Cadence hugged Twilight warmly as she and the others approached Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.

"I'm doing great, Cadence. It's so good to see you! I brought a friend of mine with me today. I figured he could spend some time with Shining Armor. This is Alex." Twilight introduced them as she went to hug her brother.

"Hi. Nice to meet you." Alex smiled and nodded, shaking hooves with the princess.

"Nice to meet you, Alex. I'm Cadence. How'd you and Twilight meet?" She asked curiously.

"Oh you know, just freak of circumstances. I've never been to the Crystal Empire before, so Twilight offered to take me with her on her trip." Alex explained. Cadence smiled and nodded.

"Cool. Well, enjoy your time here. We'd be happy to have you join us for lunch after our meeting, if you would like." Cadence offered.

"That sounds nice, thanks." Alex agreed with a smile.

"Now where's my favorite niece?" Twilight asked, looking around.

Suddenly, Flurry Heart appeared in front of Twilight, babbling excitedly as Twilight took her in her arms and giggled.

"Woah!" Alex jumped back in surprise.

"She did tell you about the magic." Spike said with a chuckle.

"And this is Flurry Heart, our daughter." Shining Armor introduced Alex formally with a chuckle.

Flurry Heart babbled again up at Twilight again, then turned her attention over to Alex. She focused on him curiously. Her horn began to glow, and she suddenly teleported to Alex. Alex flinched and caught her in his arms, and she giggled.

"I think she likes me." Alex said with a chuckle as he cradled her. She spit a bit as she reached up at him.

"I think we just found ourselves a new babysitter." Shining Armor joked, patting Alex on the side with a chuckle.

"Nooo." Alex said quickly, laughing a bit.

"Haha, well you three have fun. Honey, Twilight and I are gonna go ahead and get our meeting started. We'll come and get you and we'll all go have lunch afterwards." Cadence said to Shining Armor.

"Alright. Sounds good. See you later." Shining Armor said, hugging Cadence briefly before she and Twilight left.

"Don't forget Flurry Heart's bottle!" She called back on their way out.

"I won't!"

Alex chuckled, looking down at Flurry Heart again. He bounced her a bit in his arms, looking down at her with a small smile and a hum of amusement.

"Kids." Alex said to Shining Armor with a chuckle.

"Tell me about it. You don't look like you have any of your own though." Shining Armor commented.

"Oh no, not me. I had a younger brother though, and I was around when he was born. I helped take care of him and stuff, so that's about all the experience I have." Alex explained.

"That's really nice. Now being an older brother, I know _a lot_ more about." Shining Armor said with a chuckle.

"Yeah. I didn't know Twilight had a brother. It never came up." He admitted.

"You must not have known her very long then. She brings me up every once in awhile usually. We're really close." Shining Armor said with a chuckle.

"Haha, that's actually really cool that you two have that sort of relationship. I remember when me and my brother had that sort of relationship." Alex said with a bit of a reminiscent sigh.

Alex looked down at Flurry Heart again, and there was a change in his expression. As he thought back to his own memories, his eyes dimmed, and he was no longer focused on Flurry Heart. She began to fuss a bit as she tried to get his attention.

"Maybe you should take her for a bit." Alex said, handing Flurry Heart carefully back to her father.

"Sure. You okay?" Shining Armor asked.

"Yeah. I'm good." Alex nodded.

Flurry Heart's horn began to glow again, and she reappeared back in Alex's arms. He chuckled a bit as he cradled her again.

"Looks like she's got other ideas." Spike said.

"So, Alex, what do you think of the Crystal Empire from your first visit here?" Cadence asked Alex as they all sat together for lunch: Alex, Cadence, Twilight, Shining Armor, Spike, and Flurry Heart relaxing in her mother's arms.

"It's very nice. It's impressive too. Everything's so shiny here, like wow." Alex said with a chuckle, looking around a bit. Cadence and Shining Armor both chuckled a bit.

"It took me a little time to get used to it, but it's a very nice place to live."

"I imagine it would be." Alex said, agreeing with Shining Armor.

"It's so nice to be back and to see you again! Thank you for having us come up here, and for letting me take Alex along so he could see it." Twilight thanked them.

"Of course. Thank you for coming, Twilight." Cadence said with a grin.


	10. Canterlot

"So, this is Canterlot, huh?" Alex said with an intrigued hum as he and Twilight went on a stroll around the city area. Twilight nodded with a small smile.

"Yep. I used to live here before I moved to Ponyville." She said.

"Oh, really? How was it?" He asked. She shrugged.

"It was alright. That was back before I got out much. I just kinda stayed home reading books and stuff." She admitted a bit sheepishly. Alex chuckled a bit.

"Okay, I gotcha. So you weren't hitting up any night clubs." He said in a bit of a teasing manner. Twilight scoffed and rolled her eyes at this.

"Definitely not."

"Yeah. Do they even have night clubs here?" He asked curiously.

"I have no idea." Twilight said with a small chuckle.

"Oh ok." Alex said, trailing off a bit as he looked up at Canterlot Castle.

As he stared up at it, he found himself feeling a bit small in comparison to the tall castle set up against the mountain. He knew full well who lived in there, and the thought of that made him a bit uneasy considering how close he stood to it.

"Alex?" Twilight tapped him to get his attention. Alex flinched a bit and rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry. Got lost in thought, I guess."

"Admiring the castle?" Twilight asked with a small chuckle.

"Something like that. Hey, does the princess know that I'm here again? That you brought me back?" Alex asked curiously. Twilight's eyes widened a bit at the suddenness of his question.

"Um, what makes you ask that?" She asked.

"I was just wondering. I mean, after that whole deal last time, I didn't think I'd be back here, so I was just wondering if she knew you'd found an alternative to the portal." Alex explained his thinking. Twilight cleared her throat.

"We haven't really discussed it yet…" She admitted. Alex hummed a bit.

"So that's a no. Okay. Just wondering." He said, not saying anything else about it. Twilight nodded awkwardly, not saying anything else about it either. This left a bit of an awkward silence between them.

Alex began to look around again, and he was beginning to notice that other ponies passing by were looking over at the two of them curiously; some of them were even talking amongst themselves about the two of them quietly.

Perhaps it was because he was walking with a princess…

"When was the last time you were here?" Alex asked. Twilight shrugged a bit, trying to think back.

"Not in a while. Why?" She asked.

"Some ponies are staring." He pointed them out with his hoof. When he did so, most of them turned away. Twilight still noticed it though.

"Oh. Sorry, Princess of Friendship doesn't come without its fair share of popularity." Twilight admitted. Alex hummed a bit again.

"Celebrity life, I'm telling ya." Alex joked. Twilight chuckled a bit.

"Maybe. So, I do have to go in a little bit to start planning for the Festival of Friendship. Are you gonna be alright on your own?" Twilight asked him. Alex nodded and smiled.

"Not without my binky, my blankey, and freshly warmed milk." Alex stipulated humorously. Twilight's eyes narrowed and she shook her head at him with amusement.

"You'll be fine. I'll meet you back at the bridge in a few hours!" She said before flying off.

"Alright, Twilight! See you in a few hours! Bring the milk!" He said as she went off. He chuckled a bit to himself before continuing on his way.

Alex continued on for a little bit in silence, looking around at Canterlot in closer detail. It was very clean and well kempt, and he found this impressive. All of the little sights and decorations intrigued him, and he wondered what was the history behind these things.

His thoughts then went back to the princesses: Celestia and Luna. Surely they would soon learn that he was back in Equestria, and that Twilight had somehow gone around her mentor's orders to bring him and Evan back here.

He wondered how he would perceived by them when this truth eventually did come to light. Would he be accepted? Or would they cast them out again? If that was what they wanted, surely they would find a reason for it.

Moving his thoughts along, he continued on to Rarity now. They had been discussing more and more lately putting the Pony Tones show together. Now that their set was beginning to be ready to go, the time was coming to actually perform it.

The idea of this gave Alex performance anxiety. With practice, he knew he was going to be able to pull off his part, it just made him nervous how much attention he'd likely be getting, since they had made sure to give him some solo parts.

However, as he stood at the bridge looking down at the water thinking about all of these things, his thoughts were interrupted by a mare coming his way and looking down at the water too. He glanced over at her, and greeted her with a nod of his head.

"Hello there." He said. She smiled politely, nodding back to him.

"Hi. I don't believe we've met. I'm Minuette." She introduced herself, offering her hoof out to him. Alex shook it.

"Alex."

"Alex?"

"That's my name, yes."

"Wow, what a cool name. It sounds very foreign and different." She said with a giggle.

"Heheh, thank you. Minuette is a cool name too."

"Thank you. So, what brings you to Canterlot?" She asked.

"I'm just visiting. I'm actually here with a friend, but she had to go. She used to live here." He explained simply, not naming names purposefully.

"Oh, who's your friend?" Minuette asked curiously.

"Uh, do you know Twilight Sparkle?" He asked. Immediately, her eyes lit up a bit.

"Of course I know Twilight! She lived not far from me when she was around. We recently got back in touch. You're friends with her too?" She asked.

"Yeah. She's been showing me around Equestria and other places around it, since I've never been here before." Alex explained.

"Ahh, very cool. Well, welcome! That's very cool. How did you meet Twilight then?"

"It was just one of those things that just kinda happened, total freak of circumstances, if that makes any sense. Coincidence." Alex explained in pieces. Minuette nodded.

"It happens, but hey, out of all ponies to run into just out of the blue, you picked a good one!" She said with a laugh. Alex chuckled too.

"Yeah, you're telling me."

"Haha, so you've never been to Canterlot before?" She asked again. Alex shook his head.

"Nope, this is the first time. Of course, Twilight told me a little bit about it before, but this is my first time seeing any of it for myself." Alex explained.

"Oh, wow. How are you liking it so far?" She asked, leaning against the bridge a little bit.

"It's nice. Very clean." Alex complimented with a chuckle.

As Minuette began to talk, Alex's focus was taken away from her as he noticed several ponies wearing armor were making their way around and seemingly coming straight for him. Alex's eyebrows furrowed, and he began to back towards the edge of the bridge.

"Excuse me, sir. We're gonna need you to come with us." One of them said as three of them had him cornered. Minuette began to back away.

"For what?" Alex asked, looking for a way out.

"It seems that you have unstable magic emitting from you." A fourth stallion with a long white beard said, approaching him. Looking at him, Alex thought that he looked like the pony version of a very generic-looking wizard.

"What now? Hold up." Alex said, stepping forward.

Immediately, the guards reacted by stepping forward and grabbing onto him, holding him down and restraining him. Alex grunted out in pain, looking over to his right and seeing Minuette shooting him an apologetic look before leaving quickly...


	11. The Princesses

"Hello there, Star Swirl! Welcome back! What brings you here so suddenly?" Princess Luna greeted her old teacher as he entered into the throne room by himself.

"I apologize for the suddenness of my visit, Celestia, Luna; I came here to surprise you, but my attention was diverted when I came across a stallion with the most peculiar aura about him. He has a strange unstable magic that I wanted to bring to your attention." Star Swirl reported.

"Unstable magic?" Celestia asked with a strange expression. He nodded again.

"Yes. I'm afraid we frightened the lad when we found him, and we had to subdue him to bring him here." Star Swirl added. The princesses nodded.

"Bring him in then, please." Celestia said. Star Swirl nodded, exiting the throne room.

He came back with the guards who escorted Alex in. The hooves on his left and right sides were bound in magic handcuffs, allowing him to trot without being able to run. In the scuffle to subdue him, his mane had been messed up, causing it to drape over one of his eyes.

He was brought before the thrones of the princesses, and the guards took two small steps away from him. Alex sat back on the ground, looking up at them. Immediately, he looked at Princess Luna, recognizing her as the one she'd spoken to in his dreams.

"What is your name?" Princess Celestia addressed him directly. Alex looked up at her.

"My name is Alex." He said. Luna's eyes widened a little bit, and Celestia looked at her.

"I recall you mentioning an Alex before, sister."

"Yes, the human that I encountered in the past. That was his name. And…this stallion resembles that human quite closely." Luna said, narrowing her eyes to look at Alex closer.

"You're talking to the same guy, princess." Alex confirmed her suspicions.

"So you are the human who had come here before, are you?" Celestia asked, her tone shifting as she began to gain a better understanding of just what was going on here.

"I am." Alex nodded, flicking his mane to the side so he could see with both of his eyes.

"How did you come back here?" Celestia asked.

"Twilight brought me here again." Alex answered.

"I thought that my sister had made it clear the dangers of her portal-making spell and said that it was never to be used again." Luna said. Alex nodded.

"Yes, that is true. Twilight told me that she had found a way around that, a less dangerous method to go to and from our two worlds. I just took her word on it." Alex said.

"So you say that Twilight determined to go against my wishes and find a 'loophole'?" Celestia asked, raising her eyebrow at him. Alex shrugged and nodded again.

"That's more or less what she told me. She also mentioned that you weren't aware of it yet, and she didn't seem to be looking forward to that conversation." Alex said.

"I can imagine," She said before turning to one of her attendants. "Please, have a message sent to Princess Twilight immediately to come here."

"How long has it been since you say Twilight found this new method and brought you to Equestria again?" Luna asked.

"Uh, like two or three weeks, maybe?" Alex guessed.

"I see," Celestia hummed. "I'm sure you must understand my feelings on this to some extent, Alex. I very specifically asked Twilight not to do this, and yet, she went around that and then kept it a secret for apparently quite some time.

"From my perspective, you seem to be having a negative influence on my star pupil. These sorts of actions are very much out of character for her." Celestia explained her thoughts. Alex cleared his throat to give himself time to bite back any hostile remarks.

"I understand what you're saying, princess, but I just listened to what she said. She was the one who apparently found a way to satisfy your wishes while still finding a way to bring me here and back. She apparently felt that friendship with me and my friend who's also been here was important enough."

"Certainly, you can't be insinuating that Princess Twilight would take such a bold stance against her own mentor." Star Swirl interjected.

"No, I can see what Twilight's thoughts might have been. She has always had good intentions, and I've always taught her to trust her own judgment, even if it may take her places where those around her disagree with her," Celestia started before turning to Luna.

"Sister, you have been inside the dreams of Alex here, so you've gotten a glimpse at his state of mind. How would you vouch for him based on everything you've seen?" She asked her.

Luna looked towards Alex again, and Alex towards Luna. The two locked eyes for a few moments. It was as if she was looking into his eyes down into his mind where she had been before, reanalyzing everything she had seen then and was seeing now.

Finally, she spoke.

"Briefly as my interactions with Alex have been, I have seen that he has a lot of emotions within him, but a lot of morals as well. His line of thinking is very different from any pony I've seen, but I don't believe that he presents any immediate danger to Equestria." Luna decided.

"Would you have him continue to come back and forth then?" Star Swirl asked. Luna nodded slightly.

"If it is true that Twilight found a way to eliminate all outside dangers, I don't see the harm in it." Luna answered honestly. Celestia nodded slowly, taking this in.

"Very well. When Twilight gets here, I will speak with her, and her answers will determine whether or not this will continue. For now, Alex, I ask that you stay here in the castle, but you don't need those chains anymore." Celestia said. At her word, his magic handcuffs disappeared.

"Thank you," Alex said, slowly getting up. "And thank you, princess, for vouching for me." Alex said, nodding to Luna before being led by Star Swirl and the guards out of the throne room.

As they exited, Twilight was coming up the steps. Upon seeing him, her eyes widened in shock. She immediately knew exactly was going on, and Alex could plainly see the growing fear. He said nothing to her as they passed her by, and she continued into the throne room.

"What would possess Twilight to do all this for you?" Star Swirl asked him as they made their way down the stairs. Alex shrugged and shook his head a bit.

"I don't know. That's probably a question that you should ask her. Star Swirl?" Alex asked. Star Swirl nodded.

"Yes, that is my name. And I now know yours. I apologize for this whole misunderstanding in bringing you in. It was truly precautionary, nothing personal." Star Swirl said carefully.

"Yeah, it's alright. Uncomfortable, but it's past now." Alex said, clearing his throat.

"How do you think the princesses will respond to what Twilight tells them?"

"I can't say, but based off of what Celestia said, if Twilight is honest with them, I should be allowed to continue coming back and forth." Alex said hopefully.

"We shall see then, I guess." Star Swirl said with a small shrug…


	12. Released

Alex waited quietly in the library for about 15 stressful minutes before Twilight finally showed up. She came into the library, quickly hurrying over and hugging him. He hugged back.

"Alex, there you are! I'm _so_ sorry about all of this!" She said quickly.

"It's alright. What happened in there?" He asked, gesturing back in the direction of the throne room.

"Well, it took a lot of explaining…and apologizing, but after I told them everything, they agreed that you don't have to go back to Earth forever again." Twilight reported gladly.

"Really? So I can keep coming to Equestria?" Alex asked, completely surprised.

"Yes," Twilight nodded. "So can Evan."

"Well...that's great, right?"

"Yes! That's great! I don't know what would have happened if they had said no again."

"I don't wanna think about it," Alex said. "So now what?"

"Now we can go again. I'll finish planning for the Friendship Festival on my own, but I'll get you situated heading back to Ponyville first." Twilight answered.

"Alright. Thanks again, Twilight." He said with a nod as they began to make their way out of the castle.

"Oh, don't thank me. I'm just sorry that you had to go through that. I heard that they had you bound up." Twilight said with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, but I'm alright, really. Better now knowing that they didn't ban me again." Alex said.

"Yeah. We'll get you back now." Twilight said with a nod.

"Okay… Hey, do you know a Minuette?" Alex asked curiously.

"Uh, yeah, I do. Why?"

Alex knocked on the door that Twilight directed them too. After a little bit, Minuette answered the door, surprised to see both Alex and Twilight standing there.

"Hey… Uh, you remember me, right? Alex?" Alex asked just in case. Minuette chuckled a bit.

"Yeah. We met like today, so." She said.

"Heheh, yeah, right."

"Hey, Minuette. Good to see you again." Twilight said with a wave. Minuette nodded and waved back to her.

"Hey, Twilight! Good to see you too! Making new friends, I see," She said with a chuckle. "Would you like to come in for a little bit?" She offered them.

"Uh, we can, sure. I have a little bit of time before my train departs." Alex said as they entered.

"Have a seat. I'll pour you some juice." She said.

"This is a nice place." Alex complimented.

"Aw, thank you. I just cleaned it out." Minuette said thankfully as she went back into the kitchen.

"Why are we here, Alex?" Twilight whispered to him when she was out of earshot.

"Just saying hi, letting her know that I'm cool and not a criminal." Alex responded quietly.

"Hope you like orange juice." Minuette said, bringing in glasses for them. Alex nodded appreciatively as he took his.

"Thank you. How're you doing?" He asked politely.

"I'm doing well. How are you doing though? I thought you had gotten arrested or something." Minuette asked. Alex nodded and shook his head from side to side a bit.

"Yeah, it was just a crazy misunderstanding. But we're all good now. I even brought this Twilight along as proof." Alex said, gesturing to Twilight. Minuette giggled a bit.

"Well, that's good. I'm glad it all sorted itself out." She said.

"Yeah, me too. I'm Alex, by the way." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Nice to meet you, Alex." Minuette said with a giggle.

"I thought you two had already met." Twilight said with some confusion.

"Oh, we did." Alex said with a nod, keeping a straight face. Minuette giggled a bit.

"So, you're heading off soon then? You mentioned a train ride." She asked.

"Yeah, I'm heading back to Ponyville where I'm staying." Alex answered.

"Oh ok. I'll see you around next time you're in Canterlot then?" She asked.

"Sure, maybe I'll come in and visit, see how you're doing. I'm Alex by the way."

"Sounds good, nice to meet you." Minuette said with a smile.

"Why do you keep introducing yourself?" Twilight asked, not getting the joke.

"What're you talking about, Twilight?" Alex asked. "I think you're hearing things."

"I got you a nice seat with complimentary snacks. You should arrive in Ponyville after the sun goes down." Twilight said as they stood at the station.

"Alright. Sounds good, Twilight. I like complimentary snacks." Alex said with a nod.

"Yeah. And I'll see you later."

"See you, Twilight. Take care." Alex said, giving her a quick hug before entering the train.

Alex put his music in as he took his seat. Looking out the window, he saw Twilight giving him one last wave. He waved back, and she turned and left the station. The train pulled out, and he went on his way.

Alex sighed, laying his head back and closing his eyes. Reflecting back on today's events, he was wondering how truly welcome he was in Equestria. Getting off on the wrong foot with the princesses sure didn't leave him in a very good spot.

Despite this, he was being allowed to stay for now. He could only hope that wouldn't change later…


	13. Band

"Hey, Starlight. Come on in." Alex said, letting her into his apartment on Earth. He looked around to see if anyone was behind her, but he was surprised to see that she had come alone.

"Hey, Alex. I heard what happened in Canterlot. Are you okay?" She asked as she sat on his couch. He nodded as he sat down where he had been and resumed his video game.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just caught me off guard, but I'm good. I'm just taking a little break until the next visit. Did you come by to check up on me?" Alex asked curiously.

"Ehh, yeah, partially. Well… Twilight and the others have been doing a lot of planning for her Festival of Friendship, and, well… I kinda don't wanna do anymore preparations today." She said, phrasing her intentions specifically. Alex chuckled a bit.

"Ditching on your friends, huh?" Alex teased. Starlight blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"I mean…a little?"

"Haha, that's alright. So, what do you wanna do today?" Alex asked.

"Well, I was actually gonna go somewhere, but then I thought about you and figured you'd like to see it for yourself. You just have to promise not to say anything about it to anyone else." Starlight stipulated. Alex raised his eyebrow a bit, but agreed out of curiosity.

"Alright. So where are we going?"

"So the big secret that you didn't want me to know about is a mirror?" Alex asked skeptically, looking at it closely. There seemed to be nothing special about it.

"Well… Just follow me." Starlight said, approaching the mirror. She stepped into it and disappeared in a flash of light. Alex's eyes widened.

"Woah! Starlight, are you still alive?" He asked. He got no response, and stepped closer to it, "Okay… Well, here goes nothing then." He said before stepping through.

He came out on the other side of what he realized was a bridge, and he stepped out onto two feet again. Looking down, he saw that he was human, but not the same kind of human; he had blue skin.

"What the fr-"

"So this is kind of an alternate universe kind of thing," Starlight said. "I went ahead and gave you some clothes. What do you think?"

Alex looked down at himself. He was clothed in a white shirt, black joggers, and a blue hoodie. His shoes were like Converse. Alex turned to look at himself in the mirror, seeing that he looked more like a humanized version of his pony appearance.

"Looks good. Super weird though. How did you find this?" Alex asked. Starlight just chuckled a bit.

"Eh, that's a long story. I got some friends I'd like you to meet though. I think I know where to find them too." Starlight said.

Alex and Starlight approached the door to a house. Alex looked up at it curiously as they made their way towards it.

"What is this place?" Alex asked.

"You shall see." Starlight said as she knocked on the door. After waiting for a little bit, Maud Pie answered the door. Alex's head tilted curiously.

"Hey, Starlight. Are you here to hang out?" Maud Pie asked dryly.

"I am. Is everyone here?" Starlight asked.

"Yes."

"Great! Oh, this is Alex, by the way. Alex, this is Maud Pie." Starlight introduced the two of them. They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you." He said as they came in. Maud Pie greeted him politely.

"Nice to meet you too. All of Starlight's friends are downstairs. I'll let them know you two are here." She said, closing the door behind them and going around to the door to the basement. She knocked on it.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie. Starlight's here and she brought a boy with her." She called down the stairs. Alex and Starlight flinched at this.

"Okay! Tell them to come down! We're just about to start rehearsing!" Pinkie's voice called back up.

"They're ready for you." Maud Pie said to them.

"Thank you, Maud."

"You want some sodas?" She offered.

"I'll take one." Alex said with a nod. Maud handed them sodas before they went downstairs.

They stepped down into the basement which had been set up with a small stage, instruments and microphones all set up on it with speakers on both sides. Alex found seven girls all sitting on couches opposite of the stage.

They were humanized versions of all of his friends, plus one extra girl who didn't look remotely familiar.

"Hey, Starlight!" Pinkie greeted her with a wide grin, being the first one to come up and greet her with a big hug. Starlight chuckled and hugged back.

"Hey, Pinkie. Good to see you." Starlight said with a smile.

"Brought a new friend, huh?" Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

"Yes. Everyone, this is my friend Alex. Alex, this is Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and _that_ is Sunset Shimmer." Starlight went around pointing them all out. Alex nodded.

"Hey there. Nice to meet all of you. Sunset, Starlight told me nothing about you. Good to meet you." Alex said, going over to her and shaking her hand. Sunset shook it with a chuckle.

"Likewise. So, I guess the big question is how'd you and Starlight meet?" Sunset asked.

"We've been friends for a little bit now. See, I'm not from where she's from. I'm actually a human too, but just a slightly different one, you feel me?" Alex explained quietly to her. Sunset nodded.

"Gotcha." She whispered.

"We're all still here too." Applejack said to them teasingly. They chuckled a bit.

"Sorry." Sunset said.

"Yeah. I was just looking around at this stage setup and the instruments and stuff. You guys got like a band?" Alex asked curiously, gesturing to all of the equipment.

"Yeah! It's an awesome band too!" Rainbow Dash said proudly.

"Rainbow Dash loves to toot our horn for us, but we play together very well." Rarity said with a chuckle.

"What about you, Alex? What are you into?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, the same stuff mainly. I love music." Alex answered, pointing to the equipment.

"Are you a performer too?" Sunset asked.

"Eh…uh, I mean, I _have_ performed, I wouldn't exactly call myself a performer." Alex said slowly, cringing a bit at the question. Starlight stepped in with a chuckle.

"Alex is actually a singer. He's set to perform with an a cappella group." Starlight informed them. Immediately, their interest level rose.

"A singer, huh? Are you gonna sing then?" Twilight asked.

"We gotta hear you sing!" Pinkie said enthusiastically. Alex rolled his eyes and pointed at Starlight.

"I'mma get you for this man. Alright, sure, I can sing something, just give me some time to pick a song." Alex agreed with a chuckle, heading to the speakers. The girls chuckled a bit.

"You don't have to actually sing something if you don't want to sing something." Sunset said nicely.

"Oh no, everyone wants to hear me sing, so I'mma sing!" Alex said in a high pitched voice as he started rummaging through his phone. The girls chuckled again.

"Boyfriend?" Rarity asked Starlight at a quieter tone. Starlight quickly shook her head.

"Oh no. Just friends."

"Mhmm." Rarity giggled a bit teasingly. Finally, Alex got up.

"Is the microphone working?" He asked.

"Yep!" Pinkie nodded and gave him the thumbs up. With that, he started his song: Location by Khalid.

He came up center stage slowly in time with the music, moving his hands and fingers stylishly as he made his way to the microphone. He took it in one hand and began to sing, tapping his heel and allowing himself to get comfortable enough to get through the song.

Alex took the microphone off its stand and moved it aside, sliding sideways as the beat of the song kicked in. He began to walk around, dancing a little bit and moving his feet smoothly as he continued to sing casually, as though he were giving an actual performance.

As he continued on, the girls all nodded along and gave each other glances; it seemed they all had the same thoughts. Finally, Alex finished up and went back to the speakers, letting the song finish before taking his phone off.

"There." Alex said with a chuckle. The girls clapped for him.

"That was pretty awesome!" Rainbow Dash said in approval.

"I didn't realize you were such a natural performer." Starlight said with a giggle.

"Because I'm not." Alex responded with a sheepish chuckle.

"Nonsense, darling, that was wonderful." Rarity said.

"You should be, like, famous!" Pinkie grinned.

"Well, Starlight, looks like you just brought us a new band member." Sunset said with a chuckle.

"You want me to join the band?" Alex asked.

"If you would like to." Fluttershy said.

"I've actually always wanted to join a band." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Well then today's your lucky day, buddy!" Rainbow Dash said with a laugh.

"Alright, count me in. I just gotta hear what you guys sound like." Alex said.

"I think we can do a song real quick." Twilight said with a smile.


	14. Festival

"Haha, alright. Thanks for coming by, you guys. See ya, Starlight. Nice meeting you again, Alex. We'll see you again and come up with some songs for you." Sunset said with a chuckle, waving the both of them off.

"Haha, sure thing. See you around, Sunset." Alex said before stepping through the portal. Starlight followed him out, and they stepped out on the other side as ponies again.

It was nighttime now in Equestria as they stepped out. Alex chuckled a bit as he and Starlight made their way back out.

"That was so much fun. We have to go back again." Alex said.

"Oh, we definitely will, especially now that you're part of a band now! That's cool!" Starlight said, nudging him with an enthusiastic giggle.

"I know right? I definitely wasn't expecting that." He said as they began to come back out. As they stepped outside, they heard cheering.

"Oh shoot, we're gonna miss the Friendship Festival!" Starlight exclaimed.

"What? How long were we gone?! Hey, wait up!" Alex called out, chasing after Starlight who had rushed ahead suddenly.

They galloped out just in time to see a pony onstage not far from the castle, addressing the crowd before beginning to sing. As they made their way into the crowd, Alex looked up curiously, not recognizing her.

"Who is that?" He asked Starlight.

"That's Songbird Serenade. She's the main event." Starlight answered, trying to move along through the crowd towards where Twilight and the others were. Alex grabbed onto her.

"Wait wait, hold up. I want to hear this." Alex stopped her. She nodded, standing by him as Songbird Serenade began to sing Rainbow.

As Alex listened, he was very quickly surprised by the familiar voice he heard singing, but then proceeded to get lost in the beat of the song, swaying and nodding back and forth and nodding along.

"This is really good!" Alex said to Starlight over the music. She nodded in agreement.

"It's her hit song!" She explained.

Songbird Serenade suddenly took off into the air, beginning to fly around as she sang. The crowd looked up, following her flight path. Alex noticed that the crowd had loosened up, and gestured for Starlight to follow him as they weaved through.

As they made their way through the crowd, sphere-shaped fireworks began to burst high above them. The two of them snuck glances upwards at them, in awe of how pretty and unique they looked.

"This party is lit man!" Alex said with a laugh as they finally reached a clearing, where they saw Twilight and the others ahead of them speaking with another pony that also looked unfamiliar to them.

"Hey, Twilight!" Starlight said, reaching them first with Alex shortly behind her.

"Starlight! Are you alright? Where have you been?" She asked quickly.

"I was just hanging out with Alex. I brought him to the festival as my plus one, since you forgot to invite him." She pointed out in a teasing manner. Twilight chuckled a bit.

"I didn't forget to invite him, I already knew you were gonna bring him for me." Twilight said.

"This party is lit man!" Alex said to Twilight, still moving to the music a bit as he joined them.

"Thanks, Alex!"

"Hey, are you alright?!" Rainbow Dash came to him, hugging him tightly. Alex chuckled and hugged her back.

"Yeah, RD, I'm alright. I was just hanging out with Starlight." He said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Ooh, perfect timing! You can meet our new friend!" Pinkie grinned, gesturing to the unfamiliar mare that was with them. Alex nodded and offered his hoof out to her.

"Hey, I'm Alex. And you are?" Alex asked as the two shook hooves.

"Um, Fizzlepop Berrytwist." She introduced herself. Alex began to chuckle a bit, trying to stifle it.

"Fizzlepop Berrytwist? That's your name?"

"Yeah…?"

"That is…one of the best names I have _ever_ heard." Alex said with a grin.

"Oh. Thank you." Fizzlepop nodded and smiled, looking caught off guard by his reaction.

"No, thank you. I will always call you Fizzlepop Berrytwist from now on. Full name, every time." Alex said with a giggle. She rolled her eyes and chuckled at this.

"I guess that's alright." She said with a smile forming.

"So, I guess you're new then? I mean, unless you're an old friend of one of the girls and they've just never mentioned you before." Alex asked. Fizzlepop Berrytwist shook her head.

"No, I'm a-a new friend here. Just…you know, it's a new development." She explained with an awkward giggle. Alex smiled and nodded.

"Alright. Well, cool. Do you mind me asking what happened to your horn? That looks kinda…ow." Alex said, cringing a bit as he looked at it.

"It was an accident a long time ago."

"Ah, yeesh. Scar too, huh?" Alex asked. She nodded.

"Yeah." She said with a small sigh.

"I understand. Well, hey, it makes you look cool and edgy. It just screams, 'Fizzlepop Berrytwist'." Alex said with a chuckle. She chuckled as well.

"Whatever you say."

"Oh shoot, I missed _all_ of that?" Alex asked in surprise as he and Rainbow Dash entered his apartment back on Earth. She nodded.

"Yeah, dude, we were gone for a while. When did you get to the festival?" She asked.

"Just before Songbird Serenade started singing that song that's still stuck in my head: Rainbow." Alex answered.

"Jeez, well then yeah, you pretty much missed everything."

"Ah man, a villain called the Storm King comes and I friggin miss the _whole_ thing? That's probably a good thing, but still!" Alex grumbled in disappointment as the two sat down and relaxed.

"It's okay, maybe next time." She said with a chuckle. Alex smiled and wrapped an arm around her.

"Either way, I'm glad that you're okay. Sounds like you've been through a lot." Alex said. Rainbow Dash nodded, smiling a bit as she leaned against him.

"Heheh, yeah. I'm tired." She said with a yawn.

"Yeah, me too. Wanna go to sleep?" Alex asked.

"Yeah." She said, looking up and kissing him. He kissed back, wrapping his arms around her.

Breaking away from the kiss, Rainbow Dash rested against him, and he found himself falling back onto the couch as she rested more and more of her weight on him. Alex just closed his eyes, letting her get comfortable and falling asleep as well…


	15. Nerves

Rainbow Dash began to stir, waking up. The morning light was streaking in through the window, and birds were chirping outside. In the midst of her sleep, she scooted upwards a bit, feeling Alex still fast asleep beneath her. She nestled into his arms again.

Suddenly, the door to his apartment opened up, and Twilight came in. Upon seeing them, she flinched suddenly, her eyes widening. Rainbow Dash looked over, saw her, and immediately woke up fully, pushing off of him and sitting back. This woke up Alex up.

"Aow! Ugh…" Alex exhaled sharply in some pain, rubbing his eyes as he sat up somewhat. Rainbow Dash's blush deepened as she stared at Twilight with wide eyes.

"What were you two doing?" Twilight asked, still in shock herself.

"Nothing." Rainbow Dash answered quickly.

"Well, I _was_ sleeping." Alex said, scooting up to sit and rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt, just… Starlight told me where the key was, so…"

"Nah, it's alright. What's up, Twilight?" He asked, brushing his hand through his hair and turning a bit to look at her.

"Rarity asked me to come and get you for the final days of rehearsal before the Pony Tones show." Twilight explained her reasons for coming.

"Oh. Oh, that's today! Okay, yeah, just let me get ready." Alex said with a nod.

"Attention, Come & Get Your Love, Find The Music In You, Night Changes. That's a pretty good lineup." Alex said, recapping with Rarity what the Pony Tones would be performing as they waited for the other members to show up.

"It's going to be quite a show. I'm very excited for it!" Rarity said with an eager clap of her hooves. Alex chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, so am I. Very nervous too." He admitted.

"Why are you nervous about it, darling?" Rarity asked, adjusting herself in her chair to lean forward a bit.

"Well, you know, I just performed for small stuff in the past, never anything quite like this. Either way, I get performance anxiety, you know? I always get really jittery and my heart starts racing just before a performance begins." Alex explained.

"Starlight told me that you're a very natural stage performer. Evan said something quite similar too." Rarity pointed out. Alex moved his head back and forth with a slight cringe.

"I mean, yeah they say that, and they're probably right, but I tend to just agree to disagree with that. I don't think I'm all that great, so…" Alex trailed off, letting his point be made. Rarity, for her part, found this quite surprising.

"Come now, darling, you have a wonderful singing voice. All of us in the group certainly think so, that's why we gave you some more prominent parts! Plus, Night Changes is basically yours." She explained with a giggle. Alex nodded and smiled a bit.

"Thanks, Rarity. I really appreciate it. I just, you know, kinda get a little down on myself sometimes, you know? My own worst critic, that sort of thing. So people say I'm a great singer, I just say, 'Ehh, I mean I'm alright'." Alex explained.

"I understand that, darling, and I appreciate both your honesty and your modesty. However, we still very much want you to perform with us." Rarity said, placing a hoof on Alex's shoulder. He nodded quickly.

"Oh no, I'm still gonna perform for sure, I'm just saying that if I make comments like that, that's the reason why." Alex finished. Rarity nodded.

"Alright. Well, agree to disagree then…but you're still a lovely singer." Rarity said with a smile.

"Thanks," Alex chuckled again awkwardly. "I'm just trying to keep up with the rest of you guys."

"Well, you might just end up outshining us, dear." Rarity said with a smile as the other members now started to pour into the boutique.

"Hey." Rainbow Dash said with a smile as Alex finally came. The two of them made their way down to a restaurant in Cloudsdale.

"Hey! How was Wonderbolt training today?" He asked, nudging her a bit. She giggled.

"It was good. Very intense training today since we have a show coming up soon. How was the last day of rehearsal with the Pony Tones?" She asked in return.

"Oh, it was great! We did two full run-throughs of the show, and it sounds pretty great." Alex said with an excited grin.

"That's wonderful! I can't wait to see it." Rainbow Dash said before they went into the restaurant and were led to a booth to sit at. They took their seats and got comfortable.

"This is a nice looking place." Alex said, looking around in approval.

"Isn't it? I've only ever been here once or twice, but I figured this would be a good place to have a date." She said, smiling a bit after finishing her sentence.

"Well, you were certainly right about that, and I'm happy that we're here now." Alex said with a smile.

"Me too." Rainbow Dash said, smiling back.

"So, you seemed to have slept well through last night, huh?" Alex said with a teasing chuckle. Rainbow Dash pressed her lips together and blushed.

"I mean… Yes, I did. Did you…?" She asked slowly.

"I did, yeah. It was nice." He said with a small smile.

"I agree. Probably should be more careful about Twilight coming in again though." She said with a small, awkward chuckle.

"Right, yeah. I'll change the locks." Alex joked.

"That should do the trick. Anyways, are you excited to be performing with the Pony Tones pretty soon? I hear Rarity's already working out the concert date." Rainbow Dash asked. Alex drew in a sharp breath before answering.

"I'm nervous, not gonna lie, but I think it'll do well. Just gotta get my nerves under control when I get up there." Alex said. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"I'm sure you guys are gonna do fantastic! I can't wait to hear you up there." She said with a grin.

"Thanks, babe." Alex said with a chuckle. Rainbow Dash blushed a bit.

"Heheh, babe." She giggled, repeating the pet name he had used.

"You don't like babe?"

"No, I do, I've just never been called that before… I can call you that too, right?" Rainbow Dash asked. Alex nodded with a chuckle.

"Absolutely."

"Alright…baby." She chuckled.


	16. Music Sharing

"So these girls are cool, right?" Evan asked Alex as the two made their way through Ponyville. Alex nodded slowly, tongue in cheek.

"They certainly seem to be. I've only talked with them a few times, but they gave us the invite, and they're musicians, so I thought it'd be cool to have a little get-together with them. You know?" Alex explained.

"Alright man. They better not be total weirdos." Evan said as they approached the house.

"What, like any of your friends are remotely normal?" Alex teased as he knocked on the door.

"You know that includes you too, right? Like, especially you." Evan pointed out.

"Fully aware and true." Alex responded before the door opened. Octavia greeted them with a smile.

"Welcome, you two. Please come in." She said, stepping aside to let them enter.

"Thank you. Octavia, this is my best friend, Evan. Evan, Octavia Melody." He introduced the two of them. They shook hooves politely.

"Hey. Nice to meet you." Evan said with a nod.

"Likewise. Please, have a seat. I'll let Vinyl know you two are here. Would you like anything to drink? Water? Tea?" She offered.

"Ooh, I'll take a tea." Evan raised his hoof.

"I'll just take a water." Alex said with a nod.

"Alright." Octavia said with a smile, going to get the drinks as Alex and Evan sat down on a nearby couch.

"So, Alex tells me that you are a musician?" Evan asked her from across the room. She nodded as she began to prepare the tea.

"Indeed, yes. I play the cello in an orchestra, and I dabble in solo arrangements from time to time." Octavia explained her specialties.

"Ooh, the cello. That's nice." Evan nodded in approval.

"I love the cello. I was telling Octavia that we gotta hear her play a little bit while we're here." Alex said with a chuckle. Octavia smiled a bit.

"You certainly will. I'm just waiting on Vinyl and we can all have ourselves a little showcase." Octavia explained her intentions with a bit of an excited grin.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Evan exclaimed.

"Yes. Let's do it!" Alex clapped his hooves in excitement.

"Vinyl? Where are you? Our guests are already here!" Octavia called out towards the bedrooms. Finally, just as Octavia was serving Evan his tea, she came out with her headphones around her neck and no glasses.

"Dude, her eyes are straight up red." Evan commented in awe as she came over.

"Hey, Vinyl! Nice of you to finally show up," Alex said teasingly, hoof-bumping her. She scoffed at this, then glanced over at Evan. "Oh, this is my best friend Evan." He introduced them quickly.

"Hey, Vinyl. I've heard good things about you. Nice to finally meet you." Evan said with a smile as they shook hooves. Vinyl nodded and winked smoothly in response before going and getting a water bottle from the fridge.

"She winked at me, dude." Evan whispered to Alex.

"She wants your soul." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Thank you again for coming, the both of you. It's been quite some time since we last had guests around here. We tend to annoy the neighbors a bit with our constant need to rehearse." Octavia admitted with a chuckle.

"Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to keep your skills up." Evan said.

"So, if I remember correctly, you play the cello, Octavia. And Vinyl, you do more electronic stuff?" Alex asked. Vinyl nodded affirmatively.

"That's pretty cool. Have you two ever collabed, done like a whole strings-electronic-dubstep sorta thing?" Evan asked. The two of them shook their heads.

"Only really once or twice for fun, but never really seriously." Octavia answered.

"So you two stay pretty close to your genres then. Do you ever attend each other's shows?" Alex asked. Vinyl snickered a bit, and Octavia rolled her eyes.

"We have in the past. As you can imagine, with our different styles, we have very different opinions of our genres. Vinyl's shows are a little too loud for me, and I believe she fell asleep at my last show." She explained with a small chuckle. Vinyl nodded to confirm this.

"Oh, shoot," Evan laughed. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Well, I for one would love to see both of your shows sometime. I can equally appreciate both types, because I'm just sophisticated like that." Alex said jokingly. The girls chuckled a bit.

"Well, you're certainly welcome to come. When the dates are out, perhaps I can sneak you a ticket." Octavia said with a sly chuckle. Alex laughed at this.

"Underground orchestra. This is great." Alex laughed.

"Pass me one or two of those two." Evan chuckled.

"I certainly will," Octavia giggled. "Now, how about we get this little music sharing session started?" Octavia offered. Alex and Evan both nodded.

"Sure! Who's first?" Alex asked. Octavia stood up.

"I can go first," She volunteered, going over to their equipment area and pulling out her cello. She brought it over to her seat and sat down with it. "I took the liberty of tuning it before you both arrived so there wouldn't be any hassle."

"Well, we appreciate the consideration." Alex said, humoring her with a chuckle. Octavia smiled and began to play.

She began by playing a light melody filled with softer, higher notes. Her eyes closed, her expression showing that she was elated as she played with a soft smile. Then, she changed her melody, playing longer and lower notes. Her eyebrows furrowed as her tune grew more somber.

Finally, she finished there, sitting back and resting again.

"That's about as much as I can do. I can only play other emotions when I'm feeling them in the moment." Octavia said. Alex fell out of his daze.

"Ohh… Oh! You were playing different emotions! I did not catch onto that." Alex said.

"Wow, dude, you're dense." Evan teased him. The girls chuckled a bit.

"That's quite alright."

"But that was really good! I enjoyed it! Sounded great. You definitely know what you're doing." Alex said with a chuckle. Evan agreed with a nod.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I guess that means you're up, Vinyl." Octavia said.

Vinyl sprang up with a grin, rushing over to her DJ equipment and turning everything on. Alex and Evan turned towards her a bit in their chairs, waiting patiently for her to get started. When she was ready, Vinyl raised up both her hooves from behind the stand, then started off right away.

Immediately, the house began to shake with the loud dubstep music that was playing. Alex leaned back a bit with a smile, nodding along as he figured out the rhythm of the music. Vinyl started off a breakdown that had Evan grooving in his seat and Alex wanting to do the same.

Finally, Vinyl finished up with a bang, raising her hooves again as though performing for a large crowd. She took a bow and came back down. Evan and Alex clapped their hooves.

"Woo, that was loud." Alex laughed, rubbing his ears.

"Man, that was fire!" Evan grinned in approval. Vinyl nodded in appreciation.

"Goodness, I fear I've gone partially deaf." Octavia joked. They chuckled a bit.

"I'm telling ya man, I wasn't fully ready for all of that. That was awesome though." Alex complimented.

"So, it's your turn now." Octavia pointed to Alex and Evan. The two of them glanced at each other.

"You go right on ahead man." Evan said.

"Ugh, alright. Of course you send me to follow _that_ up. Now…should I do something orchestral or do something with bass?" Alex wondered out loud.

"Heheh, whatever you want. This is all you." Octavia encouraged him with a chuckle. Alex groaned with a chuckle, making his way towards the speakers.

"I'll do something with some bass then," Alex decided, scrolling through his phone and plugging it into the speakers. He nodded. "Got a microphone?" He asked.

"Up top." Octavia pointed. Alex went and grabbed it, then began to play Supplies by Justin Timberlake.

Alex nodded along to its intro, singing into the microphone to test its volume. Once he had it figured out, he jumped into singing and dancing to the beat of the song. He rocked back and forth, side to side. The other three nodded along, Evan and Vinyl grooving in their seats as he sang. Alex took a bow once he had finished.

"Alright." He said with a chuckle, indicating that he was finished.

"That was really good! You have a good voice!" Octavia complimented.

"Thank you. You wanna go, Evan?" Alex asked.

"I don't see why not. Put on Sober. Gambino, boy." Evan chuckled, switching places with Alex. Alex played the song of Evan's choosing, and Evan began to sing.

Evan slid around smoothly as he sang, improvising a bit on the higher notes. The three of them nodded along just the same, and Vinyl grinned in approval at the bass drop of the song. When Evan finished, he set the mic down.

"Woo! Let's go boy!" Alex clapped.

"You both have quite a knack for this." Octavia complimented them.

"Thanks." Evan chuckled, sitting back down.

"You two should come with us to the Pony Tones show coming up. I hear it's supposed to be quite something. I'm sure music-lovers such as yourselves would enjoy it thoroughly." Octavia recommended. Vinyl nodded in agreement.

Alex and Evan glanced at each other and just chuckled.

"We'll be sure to be there." Alex said.


	17. Pony Show

"This is it, Alex. Are you ready?" Rarity asked, placing a hoof on his back as they waited behind the stage for the show time to come. Alex took several deep breaths.

"Yeah. I'm ready." He answered with a nod, his voice a little shaky.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. Alex chuckled a bit.

"My heart's racing. Did the altitude get higher or something?" He chuckled. Rarity giggled a bit, patting him on the back reassuringly.

"You're going to do great. I'm going to go ready the crowd, and we'll all come out shortly. Don't forget your cue, darling." She said with a smile before going up onstage to speak to the crowd.

"Woo! This is it man, the big time." Evan said, coming over.

"Yeah. This is it." He said, exhaling heavily again as he tried to get a grip on his nerves.

"And now, ladies and gentlecolts, the new and improved Pony Tones!" Rarity announced.

One by one the other members came out from either side until they all stood onstage. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Alex were the center three with Torch Song and Big Mac to Alex's right, and Evan and Toe Tapper to Fluttershy's left.

Alex's eyes scanned the audience. It was a much bigger crowd than what he was expecting. It looked like practically the whole town was there to see them perform. The butterflies in Alex's stomach began to flutter around much more violently, but they all to a breath and began to sing.

They started off with Find The Music In You, since everyone in the audience would already know that song. Alex was added in for the background melody, while Evan had the full time role of providing the beat for each and every song.

The audience's expressions showed familiar smiles as they moved their heads side to side to the tune. Alex looked around and saw his friends up in the front row. He nodded to Rainbow Dash as the song went on, coming to a satisfying end. The audience clapped for them.

Rarity and Alex exchanged a glance as they started their next song. Alex took the lead this time, and Rarity stepped back to let Alex and Torch Song into the middle. The audience looked much more interested as now they were listening to something new. Alex sang:

" _You've been running 'round, running 'round, running 'round throwing that dirt all on my name. 'Cause you knew that I, knew that I, knew that I'd call you up. You've been going 'round, going 'round, going 'round every party in L.A. 'Cause you knew that I, knew that I, knew that I'd be at one. Ohh._

" _I know that dress is karma. Perfume regret. You got me thinking 'bout when you were mine. Oh ooh. And now I'm all up on ya, what'd you expect? But you're not coming home with me tonight."_

As Alex finally reached the chorus, he began to stamp his hoof to the beat along with Evan while Big Mac sang the bass melody. The audience began to follow along, nodding their head in approval. Evan picked up the beat, continuing on before passing it off to Torch Song.

Torch Song continued the song while Alex jumped over to background vocals. As they sang, the audience got much more into the song, starting to move to the beat along with the Pony Tones onstage. This continued on through to the end of the song.

The audience applauded them after they finished the song. Alex stamped his hoof a few times to count them off, and Evan switched the beat again. Big Mac started the bass melody once again, and Alex followed his lead. They moved so now Toe Tapper and Rarity were in the center.

Once they had taken their positions, Evan started them off, and Toe Tapper led the song first:

" _Hey. What's the matter with your hair? Hey yeah. Hey. What's the matter with your mind and your sign? Yeah. Oh oh oh. Hey. Nothing's the matter with your head, baby, find it. Come on and find it. Hey yeah yeah. With it baby 'cause you're fine and you're mine and you look so divine."_

With this set up, all of the background vocalists joined in with him in singing the chorus:

" _Come and get your love! Come and get your love! Come and get your love! Come and get your love!"_

Alex switched it up into the next verse, and Rarity took over the lead vocals, following the precedent Toe Tapper had set. Alex grinned, tapping his hoof to the beat as the song continued. Soon the audience was following his rhythm straight through the second chorus.

All of the Pony Tones began to tap their hoof now as they went through the bridge, all singing while Alex and Fluttershy did the background. They did the chorus and one more Toe Tapper verse before they finished up the song.

The audience applauded them once again, much more emphatically this time. They all had large smiles as they switched up one more time, this time with Alex back in the center. They began a slower melody, and Alex took a breath before beginning to sing:

" _Going out tonight. Changes into something red. Her mother doesn't like that kind of dress. Everything she never had she's showing off. Moving too fast, moon is breaking through her hair. She's headed for something that she won't forget. Having no regrets is all that she really wants."_

All of them paused for a moment, taking a breath before providing the background to Alex singing the chorus as a solo:

" _We're only getting older, baby. And I've been thinking about it lately. Does it ever drive you crazy just how fast the night changes? Everything that you've ever dreamed of disappearing when you wake up. But there's nothing to be afraid of; even when the night changes. It will never change me and you."_

As Alex continued the song, he saw that the audience was practically entranced by the performance, swaying side to side to the music while listening to the words. Fully relaxed now, Alex just had to mentally prepare himself for the bridge.

When it came, everyone else stopped, and he sang completely unaccompanied. Alex went for it as strongly as he could, allowing his voice to reverberate at certain parts. It worked, for the audience looked amazed as the music continued.

Once more they went through the final chorus, finishing off by all of them holding out the last note and gesturing out to the audience. Seeing that they had finished, they all erupted into the largest applause of the show. All of the Pony Tones members took a bow and went backstage together.

All of them cheered joyously once they were backstage. They all exchanged hugs and compliments and expressed their happiness for how well the show went.

"That was so awesome! We killed it!" Alex exclaimed happily.

"Man, that was so cool. And they were all feelin' it!" Evan said, sharing Alex's excitement.

"Everypony did a wonderful job. Especially you two," She said to Alex and Evan. "You two were really the _coup d'etat_ today." Rarity complimented them with a grin.

"Thank you, but everyone did a fantastic job. You all got your parts exactly on cue, and it sounded pretty amazing up there. I'm really glad and really thankful that you invited us to perform with you." Alex said thankfully. Evan hummed in agreement.

"Well, it certainly doesn't have to be the one time." Rarity pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Evan asked.

"Well, the group and I were discussing, and we were thinking that, should you agree, we could take this performance of ours on a tour. We certainly need you two to come with us. What do you say?" She asked. Alex and Evan glanced at each other.

"I'm in if you're in, bro." Evan said.

"Oh, I am so in. I am all in." Alex said.

"Wonderful!" Rarity exclaimed.

"This is going to be a great revival for the Pony Tones." Toe Tapper said happily.

Just then, Twilight and the others came in to see them. Rainbow Dash quickly rushed over to Alex, hugging him tightly.

"That was so awesome! It sounded so great! You sounded great!" She said to him excitedly. Alex giggled and returned her hug.

"Thanks, babe. It really turned out well."

"I didn't know you had a singin' voice on ya like that, sugarcube. I was mighty impressed." Applejack complimented him.

"You all did a wonderful job. Definitely we'll have to make time for one of the other shows on the tour." Twilight said with a giggle.

"You already knew about the offer?" Alex asked with some surprise.

"Well, of course we knew." Starlight said with a chuckle.

"And now that we've had such a successful show here in Ponyville, I think you two should prepare yourself for the limelight that awaits you." Rarity said with a giggle.

"Limelight?" Alex asked, not understanding.


	18. Fame

"Hey, Alex. Where are you headed this morning?" Twilight asked, seeing that Alex was making his way down the steps and about to head out with his headphones in his ears.

"Hmm? Oh, morning, Twi. I'm headed out on a walk. I'll be back in the afternoon." He said.

"Alright. Enjoy." Twilight waved him off with a smile. Alex waved back and stepped outside.

Alex stepped out that busy morning and started his music before setting out into Ponyville. Walking with the beat of his music and with a pleasant expression on his face, he dove into the streets of the town and began to make his way down towards Sugarcube Corner.

However, as he made his way through, he began to notice that he was attracting a lot more attention than he had been previously. Ponies were looking over at him, and some were waving at him with wide grins. Alex waved back politely.

Making his way closer to the center of Ponyville, he was finding more of the same. Ponies, upon seeing him, began to point at him and talk about him. Alex tried not to look too uncomfortable as he hurried across the street and ducked into Sugarcube Corner.

Stepping into Sugarcube Corner, he saw that business had already kicked in. Alex stepped into the line, waiting patiently to make his way up to the front counter where Pinkie was helping out the customers ahead of him.

As he waited, he felt a tap behind him. He turned back, and he found himself facing as many as 5 eager smiling mares looking at him. He took his earbuds out and smiled politely, waving at them.

"Hello there."

"Hi! You're Alex, right? We saw you perform at the Pony Tones show yesterday. You did really great!" One of them said. Alex nodded.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Alex said.

"My name's Lyra. This is my best friend Bon-Bon, Derpy, Vanilla Swirl, and Flower Petal." Lyra went around introducing him to the group.

"Nice to meet you all. Bon-Bon, we've met before." Alex recalled.

"You two have met already? That's so cool! Would you take a picture with us?" Lyra asked.

"Uh, all of you?"

"Yeah! Group photo!" Flower Petal clapped excitedly.

"Here, I'll hold the camera! Get in there, Alex!" Pinkie encouraged, suddenly appearing with them and taking Lyra's camera.

"Where'd you come from?" Alex said with some surprise, turning around and backing in with the group.

All 5 of them gathered around him, either standing behind him or coming up next to him and getting close. Alex, unsure what to do, just stood there and smiled for the camera. Pinkie snapped the picture.

"Got it!" Pinkie grinned.

"Thanks, Pinkie!" Bon-Bon said, taking the camera for Lyra.

"We all enjoyed hearing you sing. We can't wait for your next show!" Lyra said as they began to leave.

"I'll be looking for all of you there then." Alex said with a chuckle. They giggled as they made their way out.

"Looks like somepony's getting popular, huh?" Pinkie nudged him in a teasing way, grinning at him.

"Heheh, I do _one_ show and ponies are acting like I'm a celebrity or something." Alex chuckled strangely, shaking his head a bit.

"Well, maybe a local celebrity. But you're already getting famous around here. Everypony's been talking about the show!" Pinkie informed him.

"Oh shoot, really?" Alex asked. Before Pinkie could answer, the bell at the counter was rung. She perked suddenly.

"Hold that thought!" Pinkie said, rushing back to the counter to handle the customers in the line again. Alex waited quietly, contemplating all this.

A local celebrity? Him?

"Hey, were you serious about me being talked about in town?" Alex asked Pinkie when he reached the front counter.

"Totally serious! If you thought ponies were noticing you _before_ , just you wait and see," Pinkie giggled. "Ahaha, so anyways, what would you like?"

Alex sat down on his bench in the center of Ponyville, sipping on his Zowie Powie drink and looking around. He was still thinking about what Pinkie had said; the fact that he was basically locally famous now. It was very strange to think about that…

And it made him wonder what the rest of the tour would be like.

"Hey, Alex!" A voice called out to him. He looked over and saw Octavia and Vinyl were coming towards him. He smiled and waved back to them as they came over to sit with him.

"Hey, guys! Good to see you again." He greeted them.

"Good to see you too! We saw you at the show. We wanted to tell you that you did a great job with the Pony Tones." Octavia complimented him. Vinyl nodded in agreement.

"Hey, thanks! I'm glad you think so. I was looking for ya'll but I didn't see you." Alex said.

"That's okay. You know, you could have just told us that you and Evan were performing with the Pony Tones." Octavia giggled a bit. Alex chuckled.

"And ruin the fun?"

"Haha, fair enough. So, how does it feel now to be the talk of the town?" Octavia asked with another laugh. Alex groaned a bit and rolled his eyes humorously.

"Ah man, I don't even know. I was just now made aware of it really, and I keep getting looked at. I don't know how I feel about it yet. It's cool, I guess?" Alex finished with an uncertain chuckle.

"I can understand that. And you're going on tour with them, aren't you?" Octavia chuckled.

"Indeed I am." Alex answered with a nod.

"Well, I can tell you with confidence that soon it'll be like this all over Equestria." Octavia said with a chuckle. Vinyl showed that she agreed by smacking him lightly on the arm.

"Oh god." Alex groaned and laughed. Octavia giggled.

"You'll be alright. You have a very bright career in singing ahead of you, should you decide to stick with it. You've already got a forming fanbase here in town." Octavia pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Alex nodded slowly. Octavia and Vinyl smiled and stood up.

"We'll see you around then." She said with a smile. Alex nodded and smiled back, waving to them as they left. He sat back comfortably again.

Now his mind was racing at the thought of what Octavia had added on to what everyone else had said. It was true what she had said; should he decide to continue this tour, which he did, he would become recognized in Equestria as a singer.

He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Why wouldn't you wanna become recognized? I think that would be awesome if you became famous here. You could totally do it!" Rainbow Dash said as the two relaxed together in her house. Alex shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess it just…makes me nervous. I've never really considered myself to be cut out for that, so hearing that I am for, like, the first time is a little bit overwhelming." Alex explained honestly.

"Yeah, I guess, but hey, you can totally do it, babe, and I'd love to see that." She said, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled a bit.

"I'll have to think about it."Alex said with a chuckle before sitting back and wrapping his arm around her.


	19. Confidence

Rarity made her way towards the dressing room area, checking in with all of the Pony Tones members before the show started. She made her way towards the break area where Evan had said Alex was hanging out at by himself.

She found him sitting on a couch by himself snacking on some candy while listening to his music. His eyes looked distant, as though he were thinking about something and not really focused on anything physical. She came over to him and got his attention.

"Hey, Rarity," Alex said, taking his headphones off. "Is it almost showtime?" He asked, beginning to stand up. Rarity shook her head, letting him sit back down.

"Oh no, dear, we still have some time. I simply wanted to check in with everypony. Is everything alright with you though? You've been quiet lately." Rarity asked with real apparent concern. Alex smiled a bit and nodded his head.

"Oh, I'm fine. I've just been thinking about some stuff is all." Alex admitted. Rarity took a seat next to him.

"What's on your mind?" She asked. Alex adjusted how he was sitting a bit in order to look at her.

"Just accustoming to everything and all. This is all so new to me: doing shows, being recognized, having _fans._ I enjoy it, don't get me wrong, it's really great, I just never expected something like this could happen to me." Alex went through his thoughts and feelings.

"I can certainly understand that, but you're doing such a wonderful job, darling. You've been quite consistent for these past few shows, and the public loves you." Rarity pointed out reassuringly.

"Yeah, I've seen that. It's still a little overwhelming." He admitted, looking down a bit. Rarity gave him a side hug, which he returned.

"You didn't feel pressured into this, did you?" She asked.

"No," He was quick to respond. "No, I didn't feel pressured. I just feel the pressure now is all, heheh. I've always thought about performing, but now that it's actually happening, I really wanna make sure I do well each and every time." Alex lamented. Rarity nodded again.

"And you certainly have been. We enjoy having you during practice. You should be very proud of what you've accomplished. I know we certainly are." Rarity said with a smile.

"Thanks, Rarity. That means a lot." Alex said, nodding and giving her a softer, more meaningful smile.

"You're quite welcome. Now, be ready in 15 minutes. We'll be going through final rehearsal before the show then." Rarity instructed, getting up and beginning to head back.

"I'll be there." Alex said with a chuckle before putting his headphones back on.

It was another fantastic show filled with intoxicating applause. As they all took their bows, Alex's eyes kept on sweeping through the large Las Pegasus crowd. It was the biggest turnout that they had seen so far. The number of fans there was substantial.

They all went backstage again, filled with delight and adrenaline and excitement. They all exclaimed happily. Alex glanced back at the stage again, sighing happily as he rejoined the others.

"This tour is going so well!" Torch Song exclaimed happily.

"There were so many ponies here today." Fluttershy said, in awe of it herself.

"They certainly looked satisfied in the end." Rarity commented with a grin.

"Another successful show!" Toe Tapper clapped.

"Another successful show indeed," An unfamiliar voice said as two similar looking ponies entered the room. "Everypony did so wonderful. Truly, it was music to the ears!" The one without a mustache said.

"Indeed. And now, if you would all kindly step this way! Your adoring fans await!" His mustachioed partner gestured behind them.

"What do you mean?" Evan asked.

"Why, autographs of course! Signing, pictures, the whole shebang!"

"Are you two the organizers for this show?" Alex asked, stepping forward. The two of them shook his hooves with vigor.

"Indeed we are. Flim and Flam, at your service, Alex. And I gotta say, a lot of the fans here are _very_ excited to see you." The one named Flam said with a sly chuckle.

"They're all lining up now. Surely, you don't want to keep them waiting." Flim added, urging them to follow. Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged a glance, but led the way behind them.

Flim and Flam led the Pony Tones over to a table where they could all sit side by side. They all took the seats marked for them. From left to right: Big Mac, Toe Tapper, Torch Song, Evan, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Alex was seated all the way to the right.

"Alright, everypony! No need to get rowdy now. Everypony will get the chance to see the Pony Tones." Flim and Flam reassured the line before opening it up for ponies to come over. Quickly, the fans at the front of the line started to pour in.

Soon they found themselves caught in a whirlwind of excited fans, paper and ink. Alex, for his part, was blown away from just how many ponies were especially excited to come and see him. He received far more compliments than what he was prepared for.

This was no doubt what Flim and Flam had been referring to.

"Oh my gosh! My sister and I are _such_ huge fans of yours. We love your voice!" Two particular mares who had stopped in front of him were saying with ecstatic grins.

"Hey, thanks. I really appreciate that," Alex said as he signed two more autographs. "It means a lot to have fans like you two."

"You sing so well! Have you ever thought about doing your own music?" The other sister asked.

"Um," Alex hummed and shrugged his shoulders. "Can't say I have."

"You totally should! You'd be really good! Thank you!" They said, waving to him with wide grins as they went off now.

Alex's eyes began to wander again. He'd lost count of how many times he'd heard opinions like this just in this signing session alone. He was unsure what it all meant, and if this was something he really could even consider. More fans made their way down, and Alex put on another smile.

"Darling, are you alright?" Rarity asked, leaning over towards him. Alex glanced over at her.

"Are you hearing what they're all saying about me?" He asked.

"Which part? I've overheard quite a bit." She pointed out with a small chuckle.

"They keep saying I should sing on my own." Alex specified what was on his mind. Rarity tilted her head a bit.

"How do you feel about that?" She asked.

"I don't understand why they're so fixated on me." He said quickly before signing more autographs. Once there was another pause, Rarity continued the conversation.

"Perhaps it's because you're something new. With the parts that you have, you certainly do stand out here and there. And you would do great." Rarity encouraged him.

"Do you think I should go for it?" He asked.

"That's for you to decide, really. If you do, just wait 'til after the tour." She said to lighten the mood a bit. Alex chuckled a bit.

"Oh no, we're finishing this. I just think they might be exaggerating a bit." Alex commented.

"Perhaps you just don't have enough confidence in your abilities." Rarity pointed out. Alex addressed the fans that came to him, but did not continue the conversation afterwards.

He didn't have a reply for that…


End file.
